Winter Bloom
by InfinitNei
Summary: ((2016)) It hasn't been long enough for Neirah's broken heart to heal after she'd been rejected in Magnolia's Southgate Park. The last person she wanted to see on her front porch while she was licking her wounds, was the beast that had caused them.
1. Cold Embraces

**Winter Bloom**

 **A Non-Canon LaNei Fanfic.**

 **.**

 **Cold Embraces**

* * *

 _(PG16 || Non-Canon || One-Shot || Romance)_

Dusk had long since set over the city of Magnolia and the young night was choking her breaths, the icy nip in the air filling tired lungs. She drew her hood tighter to her ears in hopes of protecting them from the rather unforgiving whistle of the wind between buildings, but the effort seemed in vain. Looking over her shoulder while dressed the way she was made her look awfully suspicious, but she'd rather look suspicious than have one of her guildmates sneak up on her unexpectedly. With a startled whine, she quickly caught the flap of her cloak before the wind could carry it too far from where her bloodied bandages were visible to onlookers.

.

She was later than expected… really late. She'd had a terrible feeling rolling around in her tummy that told her that her brother would be waiting in her room when she got home; sitting on her bed, those protective crimson eyes searing a hole straight through her as he demanded to know the reason her brain seemed to be void of common sense that night. She quietly admitted to herself that she might've regretted giving him a key to her house, but even if she hadn't of, he would have found a way to get by without. He always had.

.

Normally, she wouldn't have cared. Since she was a child his company had always been welcomed, comforting, encouraged. But recently, she had been ignoring his requests to accompany her on work-related escapades. She was no stranger to working alone; she had done so since she was fourteen and her brother was sealed from her reach for seven years on Tenrou Island. But it didn't seem to matter how she spun it, Gajeel wasn't the happiest that Team Blacksteel had been put on the fence. Facing the fact, Gajeel wasn't the happiest that his little Shadow had grown up while he was away.

.

She'd known that he liked to be at her side - to look out for her. In fact, if she had of divulged in her objectives before leaving on every request she'd accepted, she knew he'd follow her whether he made his presence known or not. In his eyes, she was still the frightened child she'd always been, hiding from the thunder and painting in the rain. She was still frightened, a part of her wondered if she might always be, but she wasn't a child anymore. She was ready to be brave, ready to be strong like her big brother, like her guild.

.

She bowed her head in solemn reflection, frigid fingertips fluttering over the numbed guild mark painted on her left breast peak. Ever since she'd almost lost to Natsu the day that four dragon-fairies clashed, she had set a personal goal to herself to grow stronger. If it hadn't been for her partner in the spirited confrontation, she would have failed entirely. She didn't need to grow stronger just for herself; she needed to do it for them, all of them... and the impending conflict between her and her enemies.

.

The unfortunate part was that it was no easy task. She was almost willing to go out on a limb and admit that her body just couldn't handle the magic power that she'd possessed. It was discouraging, to say the least. In earnest, the reason that she'd worked alone and avoided the presence of company was simply to keep from causing her pride the same damage her body endured on what seemed like every narrowly completed mission. She wasn't as strong as her friends, which meant she wasn't strong enough to protect them from her enemies.

.

She'd rounded the final corner of the long and jagged trajectory she'd mapped so to avoid open areas upon her return to the city. Harbouring thoughts of home could never have warmed her more after a long and arduous journey. She was exhausted in mind and body, both aching equally as unpleasantly. Her toes were numb from the cold and even though she tried to warm them with fantasies of a nice hot bath upon her return, they still tingled every time they connected with the ground.

.

The ground…

.

The surface that had locked with her gaze through the entirety of her trudge wasn't snowy white with the evening's snowfall anymore. She slowly rolled her gaze upwards, knowing full well that the shoes in front of her were far from the boots she used to steal and hide from her brother when she was a child. Her throat had already hurt for her fatigue, she didn't need a sharp and frigid inhale chasing out another weak cough like the one it had ended up forcing her to expel. Her brow knotted, more in dismayed anger than intrigue, but she would later admit that she certainly hadn't expected _him_ to meet her on her front doorstep.  
.

She quickly collected her hooded cloak around her to bashfully conceal her wounds, taking the moment of silence between them to gather herself for a defence. "What are you doing here?" Her impatient gaze sharpened as it rose to her visitor's, her tone cold and as impaling as the icicles sliding over the fascia boards of the houses nearby. Although she'd tried her hardest, she was having a hard time stifling the malice dripping from her fangs when addressing a man who had, not long before, all but ground her heart to dust against the rough pave stones at her feet.

.  
He didn't seem to take her sugared insult, but that was a good thing. That meant that in her next attempt, she could try harder. "Makin' sure you're still alive; if that's ok with you, princess." His low rumble was quietly callous and without apology. Noticing the stray flakes dusting his line of vision, he abruptly shook the snow from off the top of his head like it had offered him an insult, his nose wrinkling to the subtle tickle of their presence.

.  
This time her knotted expression _was_ for her intrigue. Her tone grew less abrasive and morphed evenly into a sarcastic drawl. "How long have you been standing here?" It appalled her with how weak she sounded, but after the brutal beating she'd received after exhausting all her magical energy, she'd figured she had a decent excuse.

.  
"Well," he initiated. He brushed the layer of snow away that had formed on the shoulders of the coat he refused to wear properly, his tone softening with her inquiry. "How long has it been snowing?"

.  
Neirah craned her neck backwards when she curled up one side of her upper lip with his modest curiosity. "All night," she griped dismally.

.  
He tipped his chin towards his chest with a sly grin and closed his eyes. "Then I've been here all night."

.  
" _Ok_ ," she almost growled. "Then let's try it _this_ way. _Why_ have you been standing on my porch all night?"

.  
And not even the covered part.

.  
There was no forgiveness in his stern expression as he redirected it her way on the offensive. "Because that thick-headed brother of yours hunted me down and accused me of 'kidnapping' you."

.  
Neirah's body shuddered at the very thought of her brother standing against the wizard before her offering a challenge. Scarred by their first encounter, she was inclined to worry about the state her brother had found himself in for his transgressions. "…what…?"

.  
Laxus diverted his chastened expression to one side to avert their connecting gazes. "Yea. Checked under my bed and everything."

.  
She immediately regretted the crack of her palm hitting her face when it didn't hurt. Obviously, when she thawed out it was going to sting… a little.

.  
"I figured if he was worried enough to bug me at all, it musta been serious." He smoothed his palm over his nape as he rolled out the stiffness that had come from lingering for so long on her doorstep. "I wasn't gonna chase you down or anythin' like that, but I figured if I waited here long enough I'd at least be able to let him know you made it back home the next time the asshole dragged me out of bed." He rolled his lethargic gaze back towards her as she panted out angry puffs of crystallised breath. "Not like the fresh air was gonna kill me."

.  
Neirah cocked a brow with the well of amusement threatening to curl her lips pleasantly for his dry humour. " _Dragged_?" She couldn't help but snort her amusement when she tried to picture the sight of her big brother blacksteel trying to 'drag' Laxus Dreyar from his bed.

.  
"Alright so I was already up, but he still owes me a door," he mocked dryly. "Iron dragon breaking and entering isn't nearly as stealthy as a shadow dragon breaking and entering."

.  
Neirah's cocked both brows as she willfully fought against the smile desperately trying to crack her stony expression. She wanted to hate him, she wanted to be uncomfortable, short, stern, but something about his dedication to being a heartless prick really made it hard not to smile. "Speaking from experience, Sparky?" Her snarky taunt was crooned smoothly as she reached for her house keys.

.  
He pushed forward with their unsympathetic banter, trying not to linger too much on the pet name that he'd hated having ever been bestowed upon him. "You know, I don't mind the half naked pictures of you all over my walls, but next time you roll around in my stuff? Try not to smell so flowery?"

.  
She passed by where he still hadn't moved, her head spinning as it tried to determine which part of her body hurt more. She admitted to herself that if Laxus kept talking, she'd likely have to go with her head. She'd wondered if he carried the same sensation for the pressure build up that came with containing his monumental ego. "Well, if Screwball bugs you again, you can tell him that I made it home safe and sound… _**as**_ usual," she murmured gently. She sighed her fatigue and attempted to pick her key off its ring with trembling fingers. "You know I can take care of myself…"

.  
Laxus' brow creased with the weak hitch in her voice, a quiver, almost. "I know," he assured her faintly. He quietly abstracted his gaze to where he'd caught the sight of her bandage's tail fluttering in the beating wind. His gaze sharpened and immediately darted back towards her juddering hands. "It's him that's havin' a hard time gettin' it through his thick skull."

.  
"Look, I'm alive," she added in an accelerated tone. She was more frustrated that she couldn't get her key in the lock of her own front door than with his actual presence. "You can leave now."

.  
He remained fixed and firm. "Yep."

.  
Nothing but his gaze moved as he watched the woman hit the boards of her porch with a lifeless thud, not a whimper or a whine toward her discomfort. He breathed out a heavy sigh of annoyance before stepping towards her and picking her key back out of the snow. He unlocked the door and shoved it open a little more impatiently than he would have liked to display. Luckily, she had found herself unconscious and without the comprehension to chastise him. He was spared her patronising at least once that night. He groaned as he bent down to scoop Neirah's dainty figure up into his arms. "How is it that when you get yourself into trouble, I'm always the one that's gotta bail you out, huh?" His breathing hitched as he stilled it in his throat, a sheepish grin on his face as he stepped through the doorway and kicked it shut behind them. "Yea… don't answer that."

.

* * *

.  
Neirah whimpered softly as she came to, only momentarily delighting in the comfort of her bed sheets around her. The moment was brief, however, because as soon as her thoughts came back to her, she flew upright and bared her fangs. " _LAXUS!_ I swear to infinity if you don't stop undressing me in my sleep I will-"

.  
"Throw me out the window?" He finished her sentiment from a chair nearby, his elbows supported on his splayed knees as he sat quietly by her bedside. "Yea, we've been over this."

.  
"Then why do you keep doing it?!" she demanded feverishly. She clutched her pyjamas flush to her skin, and would admit to herself later that it felt like heaven doing so, but she was too infuriated to let that adjust the rage she displayed in her tone. At least he'd always picked one of her more modest pairs of PJs when he decided he'd be helpful.

.  
"Because you may be able to kick a dragon's ass, but you're kind of a ditz when it comes to water," he admitted grimly. He turned his nose up to the weaponized finger that jutted at him like it might pierce his hard exterior.

.  
"What?! When was I even near water?"

.  
"Ok well this time it was a snowbank, but when the snow melts, it's wet," he reasoned. "And like I tell you every other time we end up in this situation, your brother would kill me if I let you get sick."

.  
"I'm always sick! Sick is kind of my thing," she defended irrationally. "But what I can't wrap my head around is how it's always _us_ ending up in these situations!"

.  
Laxus averted his attention meekly with an exhausted sigh. "Yea well when you come up with somethin' you let me know, cause' I've been asking myself the same damn question for a year now." He sharpened his tone to let the suspiciously tender sentiment bleed from his callous words. "Especially when your brother seems so keen on lockin' you out of harm's way." He didn't exhaust much effort in raising his hand to push her back into bed when she attempted to stand. "Stay," he commanded. "Even before you blasted me for bein' here you were hot."

.  
"I don't give a damn if Natsu lit me on fire! I need tea-" She flinched as he threw his arm out, still refusing to open his eyes as he directed her attention to the cup at her bedside.

.  
"I figured that'd be the first thing you said when you woke up," he taunted. He'd paid attention when she'd dragged her groggy backside into the guild first thing each morning. Mira had always had a pot ready just for the occasion. He returned his arm to where it folded into the other against his chest in casual stride. "Guess tearin' a strip off me is the only thing more important."

.  
Neirah looked down at the steam rolling from the liquid prepared for her. But then, she'd just supposed the essence was rolling out of her ears by the result of her fury. "Y-you… made tea?" She sputtered her statement out uncertainly, drawing the cup up in her hands to see if the offering was as tangible as it looked.

.  
He opened one cautionary eye to leer back at her sharply. "Tell anyone and I'll put you out your own damn window."

.  
"Hm..." It was becoming increasingly difficult to hide the smile itching to surface in his presence. Her tone was airy with contentment. "Fair enough." Setting her cup back into its saucer chased a delighted sigh of appreciation from her chest. "Mn, you have no idea how good that feels…"

.  
She'd caught her tone as quickly as she'd heard herself emit it, her eyes widening as she felt the tips of her ears warm with her embarrassment. "The tea." She slid her gaze to where he was watching her expectantly and then quickly returned it to her cup. "Yep… Kay. Didn't mean for it to come out like that," she rushed out frantically.

.  
He sighed restlessly and closed his eyes again. "It's fine," he assured her supportively, if not a little idly. "I know you're nuts about the stuff."

.  
She smiled humbly to herself with his admittance. She could do that; since he wasn't looking. She moved to set her cup back on her night table when her attention was drawn to her mother's journal opened like it had recently been browsed. Her gaze brightened with bemusement as she turned his way. "Hey… did you-"

.  
"Yea, sorry," he muttered gently. "It took you a bit to come to." He turned and looked back at her with a slightly sheepish grin. "I was bored."

.  
Neirah caught her gentle laugh in her throat before it could fully breach her lips as she reached down to scoop the book up in place of her tea. "Can...? Can you read Alra'Bekthian?" She really did try her hardest not to make it sound like she was mocking him by entertaining such a thought. But, by chance he could read the ancient script, it would have really helped her and Levy to decipher it in its entirety.

.  
"I was just lookin' for pictures," he admitted shamelessly. "Thought maybe seein' as how you like to draw, your mom might've put something cool together of the old lizard."

.  
As usual, Neirah found her temperament growing gentler as the time extended between them. She laughed at the irony of the open book in between her palms. "I've drawn many pictures of Ryverika," she assured him kindly. "I guess I just didn't realise it piqued your interest." She turned and looked at him with a humble grin. "I can show you if you want."

.  
A gentle smile curled his lips. "Maybe some other time, little lightning," he suggested casually. "You really shouldn't be up and around lookin' the way you do."

.  
Neirah caught her breath in alarm when she realised that in undressing her, he would have come across the wounds she had sustained in her late battles. With the epiphany, she heaved a heavy sigh of guilty expulsion. "You saw that, huh?"

.  
She'd scold herself for being so obvious later.

.  
"Saw it?" He scoffed with his entertained response to her remark. "Tsk, look, I know you like animals and whatnot, but it looks like you tried to feed your leg to a bear."

.  
"Well, you know, those hungry eyes," she played. "I just can't resist."

.  
"You're kiddin'…"

.  
"Yea," she admitted softly. "A bear would've been kinder."

.  
"Now _that_ , I do believe," he approved modestly. He watched her fidget in her lap for a moment before continuing. "So, care to explain what you're doin' taking all the hairy S-Class missions on your own?"

.  
She turned to face him with a startled look in her powerless, azure eyes. "How did you know that's what I was doing?" She certainly hadn't expected him to pay such close attention to her actions on a daily basis, or any attention at all, for that matter.

.  
He diverted his observation and rested his elbows back on his knees before starting to fidget with his fingers between. "Mira said somethin' about it the other day. Said she was worried about you."

.  
"So _that's_ why you're here," she concluded with thinly-veiled disappointment. "Mira sent you-" She moved her lips to continue but she was interrupted.

.  
"No, your brother really did pop by to interrogate me," he ascertained. He folded his hands in front of him and stared past her bed towards the window frosting with the storm outside its delicate panes. "I know the old man's decided to be lenient since Natsu's little trip to Galuna, but that's Natsu. He's not exactly gifted in the common-sense department," he dismissed grimly. "Not sayin' I don't think you can hack it, but Mira says some of them are pretty rough. I don't even know how you ended up with the stats to do that in the first place."

.  
"I promise I only try to take the easier ones…" Neirah looked down into the lumped sheets around her feet with a solemn expression. "I just… When my brother was trapped on Tenrou Island with the rest of you, I worked really hard to find him in between jobs. At first, nobody would accept the few S-Class missions we were given, and it started looking pretty bad for the guild. Especially because we used to have so many powerful wizards among us. So, I convinced Macao to let me take them on instead."

.  
"In other words, you really did pull a Natsu."

.  
"Hey!" She mellowed the tone of her outraged demand as she continued. "Just what would make you think I stole it?"

.  
Laxus tipped a finger out from behind his folded hands, diverting his lacklustre gaze with a slow roll. "One, because there's no chance in hell Macao would let a kid take on something like that by their lonesome." He flipped out another finger during his listing. "And two, it's easier for a Shadow to get away with theft than a talking, flying, _blue_ cat."

.  
Neirah sighed dismally with his point. "Fine, you win," she agreed bashfully. "Everyone has to prove themselves somehow, right? I stole my first one, and although it beat the hell out of me, I got it done." She coughed out a weak laugh and rubbed her arms sheepishly. "But I made a pretty big mess of things while doing it and didn't actually end up making anything off it for the guild." She turned and looked back at him with a pitiful grin. "I suppose I really did pull a Natsu."

.  
"Yea, I get that…" he argued sympathetically. "But I don't understand what went on in your head to convince you that it was a good idea."

.  
"Well, for starters, when my brother disappeared, I didn't really have a place to stay and the guild looked out for me after he up and vanished. I felt like I owed them at least something for their time and effort. But to be honest, those jobs usually gave me an excuse for being furthest from home," she stated gloomily. "The newer the places I explored, the closer I felt to finding my brother… I didn't expect that he was right under my nose the entire time."

.  
"You do an awful lot for that hunka scrap, don't ya?"

.  
She closed her eyes and bowed her head as she expelled a curt scoff. "Of course, he's my brother. He means everything to me," she assured him proudly. "I'm just sorry that he's got it out so bad for you."

.  
"It's not a big deal. I had it out for him worse when we first met," he confessed shortly. "I guess since after our little bout with Natsu and your brother when Mira started referring to us as a team he just assumed that I was lettin' you tag along with me." He rolled his gaze suspiciously to one side. "Though considering what he thought we were fightin' in my _room_ is a little disturbing…"

.  
"I don't even know where he gets that from. No offence, but you're the last person I want to hang out with." She sighed vexation and dropped her head. "But here I could be going grocery shopping and he could think I was tagging along with you."

.  
"That's a bit of a stretch, even for him. By the looks of it, it's no wonder why you're so scrawny." He closed his eyes and ignored her frantic flailing. "It's a wonder you're even still alive."

.  
"I'm little! I eat little foods," she demanded with a bashful pout on her puffed cheeks.

.  
He snickered darkly and gave her a sly, indirect glance. "And you wonder why your lightning's little."

.  
"THAT'S IT-"

.  
Neirah's breath was forced back into her chest as she met his palm once again upon rising. "I said stay," he reiterated sternly.

.  
"What were you doing going through my cupboards anyway?" Her interrogation was humble as she returned to sipping her tea.

.  
"Tea, remember?" His stern reminder forced her to choke on her next swallow. "Though it wasn't hard to find. I've never seen anyone with an entire cupboard dedicated to tea before." He snickered to himself at the thought. "And to make things easier, I didn't even have to try and guess which one to make. Just grabbed the one that said 'Sick'."

.  
Neirah blushed as she cradled her half-emptied cup. "And here I thought it was a lucky guess."

.  
With a quiet smile, Neirah returned her tea in order to draw her mother's journal back into her lap, unaware of how intently Laxus was observing her change in expression. The intensity of his expression faded dismayingly as he watched the way the tops of her cheeks coloured while they were prominently encouraged to rise with the sunny smile she displayed. It wasn't a bright smile, but it was filled with a heart-warming expression of love. It was beautiful. "Y'know," he rumbled softly to draw her attention. "When you hold that book, you get the same goofy look on your face as when you're talkin' about that brother of yours."

.  
Her smile morphed sinisterly before she'd let her sharp tongue take care of the rest. "I suppose a smile would seem foreign to you, wouldn't it, Sparky?"

.  
"Tsk…" He turned away with a narrowly concealed self-conscious pout, folding his arms over his chest. "Shoulda left you in the snow…"

.  
"Why aren't you like this more often?"

.  
Taken back by her tender interrogation, he redirected his humbled attention her way.

.  
Growing nervous with the meeting of their gazes lingering for a moment, she quickly dropped hers to the fiddling of her hands in her lap with the old pages of her mother's tome. "I mean… it's rare that we're in the same room together for so long where I don't wish you dead." She stilled with an eerie chill when she turned to meet his impatient scowl. "Ok, well aside from when I first woke up, but at least they were merciful deaths this time."

.  
He sighed shoddily in response to her rattled assurance. "Gee, well that's a relief."

.  
"Seriously though," she assured him quietly. She adjusted herself more comfortably under her covers to save her wounds from further irritancy. "It's almost like you might actually… care."

.  
Laxus stared across the room for a long time before he bothered to offer her a response. "Well, obviously I care," he admitted shortly. He ignored Neirah's startled flinch and flushing skin with his remark. He sighed and tried to deny the warmth intensifying in his cheekbones as he continued. "I mean, you're always getting yourself in up to your neck and then, somehow, I always end up gettin' blamed for you being reckless. Most days _I'm_ the one who feels like the big brother."

.  
Neirah smiled discreetly to herself and fiddled with a strand of her hair that she'd pulled over her shoulder. "That's all?"

.  
"'Fraid so," he murmured vacantly. He turned the entirety of his guilty expression away from her inquisitive expression. He denied the peripheral sight of her disappointment as he slowly rose from his chair to avoid the interrogation in her eyes. 'That's two, old man,' he thought disappointedly. 'Don't say I never paid attention.' He drew a deep breath to calm his nerves before swinging to face her again. "Want anythin' while I'm up?"

.  
She flinched with the sincerity of his compassion. "I- you're not leaving?"

.  
"Wasn't going to," he assured her cautiously. "Somebody's gotta make sure you take it easy for a bit, keep that scrawny ass in bed. I figured I'd babysit until the tin man finally figures out you're here." He looked over his shoulder at her deviously. "Why? Kickin' me out already?"

.  
Neirah thought on his insinuation for a long moment, wondering if maybe it would be best for him to leave. It was a little irritating that she couldn't bring herself to say so. Instead, she timidly held out her teacup and saucer to him with a pleading smile.

.  
She stifled a giggle as he retrieved her offering and headed out of the room, but not before muttering something about a needy brat during the rolling of his eyes. She turned her gaze to the windowsill by her bed, a candle flickering brilliantly against the frosty pane. 'He must have lit it to help keep the room warm,' she thought affectionately to herself. She watched the light scamper across the glittering frost circling the small thawed section of the window near the lively flame. She pulled the covers up to her chin with a rosy smile. "Liar," she whispered gently.


	2. The Candle in the Window

**The Candle in the Window**

* * *

.  
.

Laxus leant up against one of the kitchen counters while he watched the steam roll off Neirah's fresh cup of tea on the adjacent one across from him. His arms were folded and tense… too tense. They'd begun to ache with the pressure rising in his body and finally, the reminder forced a heavy sigh from deep within his chest. "What're you doin'?" he rumbled bleakly to himself. He shifted an exhausted peripheral gaze towards the window at his side where the snow fell like it had since the moment he'd arrived. He didn't mind the cold; he would have just preferred it stayed outside.  
.

* * *

.

 _Laxus ran his fingers through his hair, a dismal sigh of defeat on his lips. 'She needed me… and I let her down…' He dropped his balled fist from his head to the table, the percussive bang reverberating through tired and numbed senses. 'Why does that hurt?' His next breath trembled upon its expulsion with his next devastated breath. "I didn't figure it out soon enough…"  
._

 _Out of the silence, his fist grew so tight that he couldn't stand it. He stood swiftly, upturning the table in the process before throwing his fist out with a furious roar of anguish. "Why the fuck can't I remember her?!" He didn't wince until after he'd realised that he'd put his fist through the wall at his side, the blood falling to the floor slowly as he kept it still.  
._

" _Why me…?" He forced out his words unsteadily, tipping his forehead towards the wall as he slowly removed his fist from the broken boards. "I'm not invincible," he whispered meekly. "I can't be your hero…"  
._

"She was so happy just knowin' that I remembered her from all those years ago." He looked down at his feet with a gentle scoff. "Just like… how she looks at that damn book…"  
.

 _Makarov's brow furrowed dismally as he stared at his grandson's back. There wasn't an ounce of delicacy in the man's words as he spoke them. "I don't know what has sparked between you and Neirah as of late, but it must end now."  
. _

_Chilled didn't even begin to describe the feeling overcoming Laxus before seething rage overtook it and had his wild gaze tipping over his shoulder. "What did you just say…?"_

.

* * *

"I didn't think… it was gonna be this hard…" he whispered vaguely. He slowly opened his eyes, taking her saucer up in his hand as he moved to climb the stairs towards her bedroom.

.

* * *

.  
" _Is something the matter Laxus?" Mirajane's soft croon sang her concern from the opposing side of their guild's bar._

.  
" _I'm good," he dismissed casually._

 _.  
Mira giggled sweetly as she shuffled around her workspace. "Liar." _

_.  
He expelled a languid sigh and tipped his lethargic gaze over his shoulder to examine the bustling guild hall. "I just don't get it. I know the old man's hidin' somethin' from me, but I can't figure out what it is." _

.  
" _This is about Neirah, isn't it?"_

 _.  
With his own, he directed Mira's gaze to the other side of the guild where Neirah and Gajeel were good-naturedly teasing each other like siblings tended to do. "Looks like the old man doesn't trust her..."_

.  
" _Do you?"_

 _.  
Laxus turned his dreary gaze expectantly towards Mira. "I… I don't know what to think," he murmured distantly while down-casting his gaze. "It's not like him to just freak out like that." _

_.  
Mirajane's smile was kind as she averted her gentle gaze to her polishing, her soft smile beaming appreciation. "Neirah fought really hard to protect you when Marionette attacked," Mira assured him softly. "She didn't have to do that."_

.  
" _I know..."_

.  
" _Erza said she was willing to give her life for her friends that night."_

.  
" _I… know…"_

 _.  
Mira smiled sadly with the crack in his tone. "And I heard Gajeel say that you returned the favour when Karua tried to take her back with him." She laughed softly as Neirah folded one leg over her other after taking a seat on her brother's head. "He said that if it weren't for you, he might not have seen his er… bratty little sister again."_

.  
" _He said that huh?" Laxus murmured hopefully._

.  
" _Well, sort of," Mira added sheepishly. She gently scratched the side of her face with a single finger. "Right before he made a big fuss about your motives involving something about Neirah's bed."_

.  
" _Oh come on," Laxus growled impatiently. "When have I ever-?"_

.  
" _I know the Master doesn't trust her," Mira interrupted softly. "But as someone who's seen her give everything to protect the people she cares about, I want you to really think about what I said."_

 _.  
Laxus diverted his gaze defiantly, even if it fell right back on the controversial presence in question. "Whatever..."_

.  
" _I mean it," she argued encouragingly upon parting. "The Master's not the only one who can see right through you."_

 _.  
He flinched with her insinuation before his expression faltered once more and he slowly turned back to where the laughing girl was chasing Natsu down from her brother's shoulders. He still couldn't wrap his head around his grandfather's logic and figure out how something so small and fragile could bring Fairy Tail's guild master so much dread. Her radiant smile beamed devote affection as her rosy cheeks rose to her sealed eyes and kissed the smoky lashes framing them. 'After all the exceptions you made, how could you turn your back on that…?'_

 _.  
He chanced to shift his impatient glare towards where his grandfather loomed nearby, unmoved as he watched the same spectacle his grandson did. Laxus quickly looked away, a curt snort articulating his disgust. Unfortunately, the seeds of doubt had already been sowed and he had inherited the same fear that welled within the blood he shared.  
._

* * *

.  
"I don't know if I can keep this up…" He took a deep breath before stepping into her doorway, preparing to reapply his concealment. "I brought your stupid t-"

.  
"Shhh…" She interrupted him swiftly before he could conclude his sentence. He watched her flail her hand to one side in direction and he took the hint to leave her tea on the nightstand.

.  
He reclaimed his seat at her bedside, watching her furrowed expression from behind her Wind Reader glasses. It was strange to see her with her nose stuck in a book, but strangely, he thought the determined scrunch in her delicate expression was kind of cute.

.  
Obediently, he remained silent until she expelled a languid sigh and laid her book back across her lap. It had given him a chance to guiltlessly indulge in her presence, learning all her involuntary ticks. It was something he had always taken enjoyment in, no matter how secretly; from the way she nibbled the polish off of her right index fingernail to the way she rolled her ankles from side to side beneath her bed sheets. It was becoming all about the 'little' things...

.  
"I don't suppose you know any words that rhyme with shra'celia?" she unintentionally interrupted.

.  
Laxus blinked back at her expectantly, trying to hide the flush in his guilty features that might stir her suspicion. "Yea, I'll just scan my ancient library of known demon words and get back to you," he teased dryly.

.  
She didn't take insult. "You know, for what they consider a demon langue, it's actually really pretty," she mused. She slipped her glasses off to nibble on the frame. "Even Levy said so."

.  
"Well, she is kinda the freak-speak authority around here."

.  
Neirah winced lightly, one of her eyes falling closed with the sting climbing up her hip as she reapplied her glasses. "Yea, she kind of is, isn't she?" she outwardly mused. She climbed to her knees on her bed and approached him. "See?" She ignored his bewildered expression as she laid her book in front of him and guided his gaze with her fingertip. He at least put effort into appearing like he was paying attention to her lesson. "It's written in verse, kind of like poetry."

.  
"You don't say…"

.  
She smiled back at him despite his lack of interest as she slipped her glasses from the bridge of her nose. "Yep. The only way to make a dragon beheading sound romantic." She plopped back down by her headboard and laid her glasses against her nightstand.

.  
Laxus watched her adjust and take a sip of her tea, concealing her pained hiss behind the excuse of her tea's temperature. Unfortunately, he'd know it had cooled because he had lingered so long in thought just watching the steam rise that it couldn't be that hot anymore. "You know, if you spent as much time picking a team for your S-Class missions as you do acting tough, we'd have less of these moments."

.  
"I don't mind these moments," she chimed out joyously. She hugged her mug with a gentle smile as he shifted his suspicious gaze her way. "It's not every day Fairy Tail's mighty Laxus Dreyar brings me my tea."

.  
"It's also not every day that you narrowly escape death by his hand either…"

.  
"Wha was that?"

.  
"Nothing," he muttered silently.

.  
Her tone mellowed modestly. "I'm just saying… it's nice seeing a softer side to you. It's like you're actually human after all."

.  
He turned his bashful pout away with an irritated grunt. "Gee thanks…" Desperate to change the subject, he quickly followed her motion to the book she'd laid back on her nightstand. "So, what does shra sella mean?"

.  
"Shra'celia," she teased. "It's an expression of some sort of affection." She smiled back at him with his concern, like the subject made him even more uncomfortable than his humanity. "I'm trying to read the part where my mother started to have feelings for my father," she assured him. "But of course, she'd never actually say that she loved someone so I have to try and decipher all these lengthy synonyms. I'm stuck somewhere between the connotation of 'I love your eyes' and 'I love the sight of your blood on my hands'." Neirah melodically laughed with thoughts of what her mother might've been like when she was her age. "She's kind of a hot head."

.  
Laxus caught himself smiling with her statement. "Well, y'know what they say about the apple and the tree."

.  
"My brother says that the only good apple is an apple in his belly."

.  
Laxus paled with the swiftness of Neirah's swing and miss. "Yea, I don't really think we're on the same page with apple analogies, little lightning."

.  
"It's kind of ironic… Karua took me away at birth and raised me in the same Austalian cult my mother was trapped in," she continued solemnly. "She was a priestess; if you can believe that… Forced to worship a deity that she never believed in."

.  
"So she was a little rebel just like her kid, huh?"

.  
Neirah's cheeks warmed with the thought. "I guess so…" She swished her tea around in her cup and watched the bits of leaf dust at the bottom swirl into the liquid. "I guess this guy she met didn't really believe either. I'm really excited to translate more because I feel like somewhere in this book, lies my father's identity. He might… even still be out there… Somewhere." She turned and looked at him with an excited gleam in her eyes. "Whoever he was, he sure knew a lot about Ryverika."

.  
Laxus followed her gaze to where she had spread some of her drawings out over the bed, knowing full well that they used to be across the room. "I told you to stay," he scolded.

.  
Her cheek coloured guiltily. "I know… but when I read about Ryverika, it makes me want to see him again really bad." She groaned and started flipping through some of her illustrations of the dragon. "Here, come take a look."

.  
There was that look again and a smile that lit the room.

.  
Laxus leant over her bedside and examined some of the drawings on her comforter intently. "So that's what the old lizard looked like?"

.  
Neirah smiled warmly and brushed her fingertips over the oiled surfaces. "More or less," she purred proudly. "His wings were really transparent though and it's kinda hard for me to paint." She laughed out loud in reminiscence. "It was even harder to hide on him there as a child. He busted me a couple times for that…"

.  
He watched the solemn look of longing stain her expression even as she tried to remain spirited. "He really meant a lot to you, huh…?" Laxus murmured softly. He then took it upon himself to peek at some of the more mysterious images of the dragon.

.  
"He was like a father to me." She whispered longing through her sad smile. "But I'm sure you've been bored with endless versions of this story by Natsu over the years. We all seem to be in the same sinking ship."

.  
"Yea..." Laxus trailed off vacantly. "But strange as it is, it sounds way better comin' from you." He looked back at her wryly. "I don't wanna punch you in the face every time you bring it up."

.  
Neirah laughed with his effort. "Well, that's a relief!" she brayed intently. "I don't know if I'd survive a Sparky super punch!"

.  
Laxus cocked a brow with the twitch in his head as he returned to browsing her art. "Natsu has all these years, and anythin' he can do I'm sure infinity can do better." He rotated one of her pictures a hundred and eighty degrees in observance. "He always just… made it sound like it was somethin' to brag about… How great his damn dad was…"

.  
When realisation struck her astonished expression, Neirah bowed her head solemnly and fiddled with her fingers in her lap. "That's right... I had heard you and your dad don't have the best relationship..."

.  
"Tsk..." He turned away with his disgruntled scoff, distancing himself from the thought. "I know you were still in the hospital for most of the grand magic games, but I'd say you heard right." He expelled a heavy exhale, realising that he may have quipped a little too brashly against her remark. "Look at it this way; remember that old creep with Marionette pretending to be _your_ dad? Yea well... our relationship's kinda like that," he grumbled softly. He adjusted his tone to make it sound less like her fault for even broaching the subject. "'Cept neither of us has managed to kill the other yet…"

.  
Neirah found herself reaching her hand out to him for comfort, but before it could connect with his skin while his attention was diverted, she quickly drew it back to her chest with a disappointed sigh. "I never really thanked you for what you did for me when Karua came to take me away," she whispered gently. She couldn't help but refuse to meet his gaze when he redirected it her way. "I was reckless. You and the others worked really hard to bring me home..."

.  
"Yea, well it's just what we seem to do around here," he dismissed casually.

.  
Neirah smiled sadly, refusing to shy away from the situation any longer. "Remember what I told you when we first re-met?"

.  
He cocked a brow and grinned with her insinuation. "Is that what we're callin' that?"

.  
"Got a better suggestion, Sparky?"

.  
"Nope, go on."

.  
She continued with a grateful smile on her features. "Dark times find us all, but if it weren't for them, we'd have nothing to shine through," she assured him gently. "It's Fairy Tail's light that saw this Shadow home... and I'm really grateful for the role you played in that."

.  
"It was nothing..."

.  
That time, she did reach out and lay her hand against his forearm with a stern expression on her tender features. "Not to me, it wasn't..." The two of them shared a brief moment of connection before the confidence in their eyes fizzled out and she retracted her hand awkwardly.

.  
"You're welcome, I guess," he murmured nervously.

.  
Neirah's hands started to fidget restlessly in her lap as she meditated on her thoughts. "Maybe, to some extent, I'm delirious from the blood loss and cold but... I don't think Fairy Tail is the reason you always seem to be there when I need you," she whispered faintly. She timidly contemplated every word she spoke before it escaped her. "If I didn't know any better," she delicately pried. "I might almost suggest that you were looking out for me."  
.

Laxus was swift with his response, his resolve notably unshaken. "I think your brother does enough of that for the entire guild but if you're takin' applications for his replacement, I got nothin' better to do," he assured her quietly. "But right now? I'm just a guy that finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time..."  
.

"All the time," she corrected surely. "And I think your feet see you there more often than you'd care to admit." She ignored the pounding of her heart in her chest as he looked back at her like a child who'd just been caught sneaking money out of his mom's purse. It was a look she could have never consciously imagined on his hard features. "You don't have to hide anything for my sake," she whispered gently. "I'm not the type of girl to just go falling head over heels for the hero. You know... the apple and the tree?" Her spirited tease was followed by a reassuring snicker to soften the confrontation. "If you want to tell me I'm a reckless and clumsy kid, you don't have to be worried. I'm still going to think that you're... pretty great."  
.

Laxus stared into the flicker of the candle burning on the window ledge, trying his hardest not to linger too close to her sentiment. 'She must have lit it because she was cold.' But as he watched countless snowflakes fall, he could offer a reason for each of them to explain why he shouldn't be next to her that night. The only problem was the candle, melting away every one of them before they could bury the last panel of his defence. "I can't-" He exhaled swiftly, not sure how to approach the situation. He didn't know why his grandfather's warning weighed so heavily in his chest, but it did. It was crippling him with doubt.  
.

Neirah tried to draw her legs to her chest but caught a disdainful squeal behind her lips before adjusting herself to better accommodate the lash in her thigh. Noticing that the denial of her pain had attracted Laxus' attention, she clumsily brought up what was on her mind, no matter how inept the expulsion of her jumbled thoughts may come off as; anything to keep him from realising that she was in pain. "If you're worried about the Master, I understand," she whispered tenderly. For a long, guilty, moment, she just watched the warm candlelight break the waves of the sheets draped over her lower half. "I've been nothing but trouble since the day I showed up."  
.

"That's not true," he defended strictly.  
.

"It is," she argued as her gaze dropped with anguish. "Maybe if I just knew... a little more about my past…" She turned her wary gaze to her mother's journal as if its secrets would leap from the cover with the mere expulsion of her determination. "I could stop dragging the rest of you into my problems."  
.

"Look, I don't see it that way," Laxus quipped back impatiently. His correction came swiftly. "None of us do. I've been in this guild my whole life and I've seen trouble ten times worse than you come and go. Hell, I was one of them."  
.

Neirah flinched with his display of passion towards her defence, the tips of her ears warming with her travelling thoughts.  
.

"Your brother wrecked up the place because of that celestial wizard girl-"  
.

"Lucy?"  
.

"Not important!" He dismissed her interruption edgily in place of his fierce command. "You had one nasty run-in with some creepy cult fanatics and you've been raking your name through the dirt for months. It's really pissin' me off."  
.

Neirah recoiled uncertainly, diverting her gaze in apology. "I'm sorry-"  
.

"And that's another thing." He was well on a roll to release what he'd been keeping inside. "Why are you always apologising? For _everything_. Even when it's not your fault." She simply remained silent, utterly astounded with his fervour and without a clue how to respond. "I don't know what that idiot of a brother did to bring you up like this, but I'm gettin' a little sick of bein' the only one who believes in you."  
.

Neirah's whole face flushed with the words he'd offered her.  
.

* * *

.

 _Laxus recoiled with Gajeel's strike before the iron dragon's sword became a lightning rod. "I thought I told you to stay down!"  
. _

" _How can you just let your partner crash and burn like that!?" Gajeel raged through his pain. "This ain't two separate fights! And you don't seem to give a damn what happens to her!"  
. _

_Laxus' gaze flashed as he threw his elbow into Gajeel's gut, winding the defiant man despite his struggle. He threw his leg into his side and beat him across the street with a brutal expulsion of electrical energy. "I don't have to," he snarled bitterly. With an impatient snort, he watched a struggling Gajeel collapse against the ground once more. "And neither do you."  
. _

_Gajeel's gaze flashed defiantly as he glared up at the man who refused to help his ally. "You're such a scumbag," he hissed weakly. "I hope you know that."  
. _

" _Yea well I'm not the one who's holdin' onto a memory," Laxus rumbled derivatively. "Look," he reasoned while watching Neirah struggle to her feet. "She's not a kid anymore. The sooner you realise that; the sooner she stops struggling to prove herself to you."  
. _

_Neirah's ears rang with her own pained whimpers as she made it to her feet and threw her head back. She ground her molars together, fighting furious tears as Kairyn's voice echoed in her rattled mind.  
._

" _Come on Shads… you're kinda taking this a little too seriously," Natsu murmured softly. "Just let it go. No biggy. Maybe you'll win the next one."  
. _

" _You don't get it!"  
._

 _Natsu flinched at the swell of passion in her tone.  
._

" _This isn't as simple as winning… or losing…" Neirah whimpered softly, flexing her aching fists at her sides. "If I can't beat you… if I can't beat my big brother… How can I expect to beat the people that you can't?!"  
._

" _Uh… I just came here to fight," Natsu mewled distantly as he gave his jaw a humbled scratch.  
._

" _I can't!" she roared in answer. The intensity of her emotion forced Natsu to fall back a step with the flash in her golden eyes. "If someone is strong enough to threaten my friends, I need to be stronger than them to protect you! If I'm weaker than you then I'm useless!"  
._

" _Hey, I never said-"  
. _

_Neirah's eyes flashed hot with amber flecks and her determined cry was piercing; causing the crowd to recoil with her sudden fit of determination. "Oh man! Did I miss something?!" Lucy whimpered with intimidation in her shuddering tone.  
._

 _Gajeel grunted as Laxus kicked him in the ribs for encouragement, picking his head up out of the dirt with the tense palm on the back of the man's head. "You should watch this," he rumbled darkly. "You're about to get a taste of your baby sister's power."_

* * *

 _._

"You spend all this time trying to be strong in everyone else's eyes, but what about your own?" Laxus reasoned. He couldn't help but drag her back into the reality they shared. "I saw it the first day you stood against me, I see it now." He lowered his tone realising that he may have talked himself into a corner unexpectedly. "The only one you should be apologising to is yourself for not believing in you."  
.

* * *

.

 _She didn't know why she was acting strangely as she approached the sola tree in the centre of the park, but she was. Her heart was racing and her hands fidgeting in the fabric of her hood; a presence that had always been capable of making her feel comfortable before. She saw him standing alone by the base of the tree, his attention diverted across the park in the opposite direction of her approach. She tipped her gaze briefly in the direction of the setting sun, inhaling deeply like it might have given her confidence.  
._

 _When she turned to face him again, he was looking back at her and she couldn't explain the feeling that washed over her. She wanted to sink into the shadows and retreat, but she had made the bet and he had delivered her to victory in their battle against Natsu and Gajeel despite her inadequacies. She couldn't turn back… she didn't want to.  
._

 _She tried her best to act naturally as she made her way towards him, a casual smile on her lips. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about our deal," she mused in trying to spark up the rivalry that she had always comforted in hiding her feelings behind. "Silly me for thinking I'd be so lucky."  
. _

_He offered her a rather gentle smile as he spoke. "Glad to see our little brawl didn't damage that snarky attitude of yours. That would've been disappointing." He sighed, turning away from her as if their encounter was somehow uncomfortable. "How're you feelin'? Heard your brother gave you quite a beat down after the fact."  
._

 _Her breath caught timidly with distress as she diverted her attention sheepishly to her toes. "Yea he was pretty mad… but I told him that he'd just have to get over it." She couldn't explain the ache in her chest as he turned and offered her a familiar expression, one filled with loneliness. "But… a deal's a deal... right?"  
._

" _You know he's just trying to be a good brother," he started slowly.  
. _

" _I… well yea I guess but…"  
._

" _And it's not his fault that he lives to protect you. It's all the idiot's good at." She caught her breath as she looked back up at him with a dismayed expression. "It doesn't matter how old you are or how strong you get… You're always gonna be his baby sister. You don't have anythin' to prove to him."  
._

" _Why… are you telling me this…?" Neirah whimpered softly from behind glossing eyes, the feeling of tears gathering in the back of her throat and choking her gentle voice as he turned and looked her way with a deceitful smile.  
. _

"' _Cause I think he's had enough harassment today, don't you?"  
. _

_Neirah's expression trembled for a long moment before she lowered her gaze beneath the brim of her hood. "O-oh well… I suppose," she stuttered out delicately. "Then you're done with me?" Her gentle inquiry forced him to look her way with the desperate catch in her voice. "Because if you are… I'd… I would really like to go home now…"  
._

 _His brow creased miserably as he tried to remain casual despite her not doing a really great job at hiding her tears. "Sure thing, little lightning." He offered encouragement, smiling down at her kindly. "We'll pick it back up tomorrow."  
. _

_She didn't hide her tears as she looked up into the warmth that came to his expression when he called her by her silly pet name; and upon seeing him smile, she did the same.  
._

" _S-sure," she offered weakly. She felt her feet drag as she turned to start back home, whispering under her breath. "Whatever you say, Sparky…"_

* * *

 _._

It hadn't really hurt her since that day; the day she learned about love and heartache in a matter of hours. But to her dismay, she was feeling it all over again. She cleared away the catch she'd felt choking her words as she adjusted her covers higher over her hips. "You know… my-" She cleared her throat a second time, her reserve shaking with reminiscence. "I'm sure my brother will be here any minute," she whispered meekly. The sudden shift in her demeanour caused Laxus to catch his breath with the force of regret making him eat his words. "It's late… and he did 'drag you out of bed'," she teased with a soft, lonely smile. "Don't worry, I promise I'll do what you said and stay put."  
.

It was why he couldn't stay close to her, on any occasion; that disappointed smile. It had less to do with his grandfather's warning. But that smile, it was different from the one she displayed when she was reading her mother's journal, going through her paintings or even talking about her ill-tempered brother. That delighted beam on her face with that iridescent glow of joy smiling radiant beauty, it was there for everyone but him. "Yea," he murmured softly. He slowly climbed to his feet. "It is gettin' pretty late."

.  
Neirah laughed feebly to cover her heartache. "I already offered you a get-out-of-babysitting-free card, Sparky. You don't need to make more excuses," she sassed. "I'll be fine…"

.  
Laxus bowed his head and laid his hand against his coat that was draped over the back of the chair he'd set up next to her bedside. "Well, it's hard to argue with a night of uninterrupted sleep," he teased bleakly. He dragged his coat from the chair back with nowhere near the enthusiasm he'd tried to portray in his remark.

.  
"Sorry again for being such a bother."

.  
"If nothing else, can you at least stop apologising to me?"

.  
Their gazes locked for another long, silent moment as they conversed beyond words. Finally, Neirah smiled back at him bashfully before nodding gently in agreement. "Let me try it this way then; thanks for not leaving me in a snow bank… or the canal."

.  
"Or the fountain down by the beach."

.  
"When was I in the fountain down by the beach?"

.  
"You get drunk really easily…"

.  
Her cheeks ignited with a tender flush of colour as her genuinely dismayed smile flashed his way. "Fair enough," she crooned with a warm laugh. "Then I guess thanks for that too."

.  
He turned to offer her a parting grin. "Yea… no problem."

.

* * *

.  
The click of her front door closing behind him was hollow, or maybe he was just far too vacant to process the sound clearly. He held onto the cool metal much longer than his palm would have liked before releasing it to stuff his hands deep into his pockets with a disdainful sigh.

.  
Sinking back into reality, he turned and looked out into the shadows of the street around him; still and silent. Her brother was nowhere in sight. He took a couple of steps into the street, the wet snow crunching beneath his shoes. "It's not… what I wanted to say," he whispered disdainfully. Nothing but the pale cloud of condensation forming in front of his lips acknowledged that the words were ever spoken. He bowed his head with an exhausted sigh. "Damn it…"

.  
He turned and stared up into the dim light flickering behind the glass of her bedroom window. Like before, he could name a reason for every fluffy snowflake to fall that he should turn and make tracks until he was at his own doorstep. His brow creased as he looked up into the warm flicker breaking the bleak and desolate landscape around him.

.  
But he'd only needed one to stay.


	3. Gentle Hands

**Gentle Hands**

* * *

 ****.  
.

Neirah clenched her inner cheek between her back teeth to keep from whining with the pain of trying to remove her bandages. She was thankful for the dry pyjama's her hero had seen her into, but since her blood had dried against her medical hack job, the gauze was reopening still tender wounds.  
.

Her weakened emotional state wasn't helping her to keep the welling lump of disdain from rising in her throat. "For the love of- why can't he just mind his own darn business?!" She cursed bitterly and rubbed the itching surface of her unwounded skin around the lash wound she'd taken in combat. It would have been nice if she could have hated him for disappointing her with his denial of her affections, but she couldn't.  
.

She couldn't.

.  
She wiped at her brow where her trembling had worked up a light bead of perspiration on her skin. "Great, at this rate I really will end up sick," she whined. She was desperately trying to keep herself warm even though she had removed her PJ bottoms to reach her bandage. Between the pain in her thigh and the ache in her heart, she was exhausted. But she supposed, when it snowed, it stormed; or something about apples.

.  
She looked down at the bandage still half attached to her leg before sighing in defeat and holding the damp cloth she'd retrieved against the wound that had reopened with her efforts. "Alright magic, I could really use some sky dragon here." She groaned and looked into her non-responsive palm before flopping back on her bed to stare up at the ceiling. "What the heck am I saying…? That wouldn't work even if I tried."  
.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing one of us is still thinking clearly."

.  
Neirah had barely withheld a shriek of alarm as she rose far too quickly to witness Laxus dropping his coat back down on the chair he'd left vacant not long before. "Why are you still here?!" she demanded through her humiliation. She tried her best to scramble under the covers to hide that she remained in nothing but her panties beneath her baggy shirt.

.  
"I figured you wouldn't leave well enough alone. And besides, I didn't see your brother on my walk home, so I figured he's already halfway across the continent looking for you," he fibbed. He was unwilling to admit to either of them that the only time he'd spent away was in contemplation on her doorstep. "Either that or he went to Mira in the middle of the night and demanded to know where you were at." He raised a brow as he took a seat next to her and grabbed a hold of her comforter. "In which case, considering that and how late it is, I'd say he won't be conscious again until morning."

.  
Neirah recoiled and tried to shoo his hand away as he started drawing back her sheets. "Laxus, wait!" Her face flushed hot with her demand. "To get at my injuries I kind of…"

.  
"You do realise I was the one who dressed you right?" He groaned. "And with the way you're always getting into it, I'm sure this won't be the last time I have to do it."

.  
Neirah twisted her lips in utter horror with the thought that, not only had he returned, but he had done so at the most inopportune of times. "Well if you had fixed the terrible bandage job I had skirted by with while I was still unconscious then we wouldn't be having this conversation," she hissed softly under her breath.

.

"No thanks," he assured her smoothly. "I like all my teeth where they are and it was hard enough keeping them safe from you just havin' you wake up in your bed to what I'd done. Somethin' told me you wouldn't sit still." He diverted his gaze to where hers had grown sharp, trying desperately to hide his shameful blush. "And it's cold outside…" He'd flinched when she reached out and softly took his hand in hers.

.  
"Please don't," she whimpered quietly with a pleading squeak in her small voice. She was humiliated to beg for mercy from the pain, but she had no other choice. He was the last person she wanted to break down in front of. "It hurt really badly just getting this far… I just want to rewrap the old bandage and be done with it…"

.  
"You need to do this right or it's not going to heal properly," he warned her. It was obvious that he was refusing to give in to her so easily. "Even I know that much."

.  
"I tried but it's not that easy-"

.  
"That's because you're doing it wrong," he defended sternly. He swatted her hand away from where it tried to interfere with his work. She'd caught her breath as he slowly guided it back to her side before redirecting his full attention to where he'd revealed her half-unwrapped thigh. "See?" he indicated grimly. "Because of all that flailing, you got blood all over your sheets," he warned her cautiously. "You're lucky they're already red."

.  
She drew her hand back up to her chest, the warmth of his contact spreading through her like the day she had first taken it. "You could rip a man's head off his shoulders with those hands," she warned him sceptically. "Forgive me for not feeling comforted in their presence."

.  
He scoffed his amusement as he held his palm face up towards her. "Then just hand me that cloth and be thankful you're not a man."

.  
She offered him a wavy smile before obeying and offering him the damp cloth she'd retrieved moments after he'd left. Her heartbeat rattled her bones with her anxiety and it was a sensation that even he seemed to be privy of.

.  
Laxus cast an indirect glance her way. "Gonna be ok, little lightning?" he rumbled concerned. "Come on, surely a tough little cookie like you can take it."

.  
"I'm going to try my hardest," she assured him. Even she wasn't sure of the words she spoke as she clenched her fist on itself. "It wasn't real pleasant when I tried, so I can only imagine what I'm in for now that you're here."

.  
"No faith…"

.  
She caught her breath as she was offered his hand.

.  
"Here," he rumbled confidently. His gaze softened as he encouraged her to trust him. "Just promise you won't break it."

.  
She nibbled on the inside of her lower lip sheepishly. "You're just going to grab that end and pull, aren't you?" She hissed uncertainly, reaching for his offering.

.  
"Look it's either this or I gag you," he growled boldly. She tried to slip her fingers delicately into his palm but he hurried her along when he reached out the remainder of the way and clasped her fingers tightly beneath his own.

.  
'Oh good, time to look utterly pathetic,' she thought. She closed her eyes tightly at the same time she ground her teeth in bearing.

.  
"Man, try to believe in me at least a little, would ya?" His low murmur was husky as he draped the cloth over her bandage.

.  
She peeked one eye open with the pressure he draped over the cloth, encouraging the cool water to roll over the curves of her elevated thigh. "I thought… you were going to redo the bandage…?"

.  
"Tsk… Whatever did this musta got you good," he sassed. He shifted his sly expression her way. "Either that or the blood loss _has_ gone to your head."

.  
"Are you insulting my intelligence?" her puffy pout demanded.

.  
"Obviously."

.  
She squeaked and sealed her eyes tight when she watched him remove the cloth and take hold of the end of her bandage. She prepared for the worst, her grip on his hand tightening as he started to draw it back, but after a moment of holding her breath, she started to relax to the point that she allowed her eyes another peek.

.  
Laxus was careful to move slowly, but like he'd expected, the cloth had loosened the dried blood around her gauze so that it would release with the slightest of resistance. "You're smart as hell. I'm surprised you didn't think of this," he murmured softly.

.  
She humbly withdrew her hand from his to raise it to her chest. She wouldn't admit that she had other things on her mind when she'd all but given him the boot, but with the swell of relief filling her chest, she was forgetting the reason she ever had.

.  
She forced a dry swallow down her throat as he drew his freed hand to the underside of her thigh to steady it's trembling as he started to unravel the loosened bandage. "That's one ugly gash," he warned cautiously. His brow creased intensely as he started soaking the next row of gauze on his route.

.  
"The beastie that gave it to me… wasn't real friendly itself," she mewled. She couldn't help that she was silently infatuated with his admirable tactics.

.  
"You know… if you choked down that pride of yours and asked me, I wouldn't mind taggin' along with you on these jobs that result in… this," he offered gently. "I mean, Mira's right. We do make a pretty dangerous combination."

.  
She instantaneously shook her head well before she'd even considered his words. "My brother would throw a fit," she warned him under her breath. She tried to tell herself that was the true reason that her face flushed to realise that they were both speaking a little too softly for comfort.

.  
"I don't mind kickin' his ass. It's not that hard." He supported her knee with one hand as the other hand unravelled her bandages further. "Almost there," he assured her supportively.

.  
Neirah's gentle whimper of a response had nothing to do with pain, but everything to do with involuntary reflex to what she felt as affection from her hero. However, it still didn't keep him from taking it as a sign of discomfort.

.  
He cut his guilty gaze to hers with his rise in alarm. "Too fast?" He stammered out his words uncertainly, halting his progression as a result.

.  
"N-no!" She quickly denied the notion, trying to relax the muscles that tightened for his nearness so as not to confuse him with her mixed responses. "It's great- THE SPEED! That is…" She coloured crimson from the tips of her ears to her toes. "You can keep going if you want to..." She drove her palm into her flushing face. "Oh god…"

.  
"Relax, would you?" He murmured his words softly, seeing to it that her bandage was completely removed. "Didn't know playing doctor got you so worked up."

.  
Rather than clumsily making things worse, she just groaned self-consciously and bit her tongue. "You're lucky I'm out of magic or I'd bop you good for that one, Sparky."

.  
"Yea, yea," he teased whimsically. "I'll give you a free one when you get better." He flinched awkwardly to himself in reminiscence.  
.

* * *

.  
" _I'm a Fairy Tail wizard now," she murmured softly with a gentle laugh. "I may not have joined the guild when it was in its prime, but there isn't a single one of us that doesn't know who you are."_

 _.  
Laxus scoffed lightly before swiftly drawing his hands from where they rested in his pockets, spreading them broadly open before her. "Go on then, take a good one because that's all you're gonna get," he demanded bitterly. Neirah watched him uncertainly as she processed his request. Guilt flooded her with her ignorance and her heart ached for the pain that she didn't mean to surface. "Don't think I don't know what this is about." He closed his eyes and dropped his guard. "I'm sure you're all just itchin' to-" The last thing he had expected was the feeling of her soft lips pressed against his cheek in a slow, gentle kiss. _

.  
" _Thanks again," she whispered affectionately. By the time his eyes had flown open to check reality, she was gone; not even a shadow on the ground in her wake. His brow furrowed in search as he lifted his hand to where she had kissed him a moment before._

.  
" _The hell was that all about?"_

.

* * *

.  
He closed his eyes with a small, reminiscent smile. "I seem to give you a lot of those, don't I?" He quietly shook his head out of his thoughts before they'd taken control of his tongue again. "Here, can you pass me that-" Laxus caught his breath when he turned to see her smiling back at him and he almost wasn't able to seize the bewilderment before it met his expression. 'That… smile…' His chest ached with the force of his heartbeat beneath it.  
.

"Oh great, my lack of intelligence to articulate sentences properly is contagious," she teased. She giggled softly and passed him the fresh gauze from her nightstand.

.  
"Yea," he whispered dryly. He'd immediately forced a hard swallow down his throat as he took the bandages from her, bracing one hand beneath her knee to steady it. He pinched the beginning of the roll beneath his thumb before he let it unravel to wrap her wounds again. "You really should buddy up for these little adventures of yours," he warned her with genuine concern in his voice. "This time it's a nasty gash, next time who knows what kind of trouble you'll get yourself into."

.  
"Why is everything always little when it comes to me?" She exhaled harshly, watching the candlelight flicker off the ceiling so that her body temperature didn't rise anymore with the thought of his hand crawling up her thigh.

.  
He didn't really mean to breathe his words against her knee, but slowly, doctoring became the weakest draw of his attention. "Because I can wrap my hand around your entire thigh," he reasoned softly. "Deny that, princess," he challenged.

'Ok, so you're hulking. That doesn't default me to tiny!' Well, she had tried. Regardless; her temperature rose, and on assumption, she denied it as fury for his insult. "Prove it-" Neirah caught a surprised squeak before it fully escaped her when he slid the hand that was supporting her leg back towards her knee, his fingers closing around her skin.

.  
"Tsk… close enough," he rumbled softly. He removed the hand that remained just short of connecting on either side of her thigh.

.  
Neirah watched him finish wrapping her wound, a million comebacks to his sentiment in the queue as she watched him gently tie off her bandage. Her heart raced as it tried to sort out the jumble of thoughts and emotions tumbling around in her head. But when he started to remove his hand with the tearing of the gauze against her leg, instinct saw her fingers to his wrist.

.  
Laxus shifted his expectant gaze to where Neirah's sharp reflexes had halted the progression of his advance, her relatively lax grip encouraging him to still. "Neirah?" He was afraid that her vacant stare might pierce his skin to see the involuntary tension overcoming the muscles beneath. "I didn't hurt you… did I…?"

.  
Neirah slowly shook her head, sloshing around the waves of thoughts she had abandoned to feel the heat of his skin against hers. "No…" She whispered her words far too delicately, slowly placing his hand just above the wound she'd suffered on her outer thigh.

.  
Laxus clumsily followed her gaze to his hand that she remained pressed against, not a tremble in her fingertips as she encouraged the embrace. Ignoring his original instinct, he quickly skimmed over the bandage he'd wrapped her wound in to make sure the effort was adequate. Although not the most aesthetically pleasing effort, it would certainly keep her sheets clean as she slept off her pains. He returned his gaze to their hands connected over her flesh, the colouring of her blushing cheeks assuring him that the heat searing his palm was, in fact, hers.

.  
"I just…"

.  
He subtly tilted his peripherals her way as she staggered out her reply.

.  
"Like… the way it… feels."

 _._

* * *

 _.  
After a long moment of contemplating his clumsy response, he'd broken the hush that had fallen between them on the balcony. "You wanna dance?" His inquiry was sheepish and a frustrated smile curled his lips as she slowly shook her head. So much for what girls wanted. "You wanna stay out here and stare into the ruins of war?" He sighed softly when there came no response and he turned to rest his hands against the balcony railing alongside hers. Together they stood on the gallery overlooking the ruins of the once beautiful capital, Crocus. "Well alright, I guess I can get into that," he assured her humbly with an amused grin. _

.  
" _Laxus?"_

.  
" _Hm?"_

 _.  
Neirah smiled despite her gaze remaining on the horizon. "I'm glad you're here with me," she whispered softly. By a stroke of confidence, she'd found herself reaching out to rest her fingers delicately against his. "I like… the way it feels." _

_.  
He turned and looked down to where her index finger met his pinkie even though she was absently staring into the star-speckled midnight sky. With a gentle smile, he'd intertwined his fingers with hers. "Yea... me too."_

.

* * *

.  
His first intentions were to reminisce further on their humble moment following the Grand Magic Games, but he was more than a little distracted by the heavy beat of his own heart. His mind had grown numb as her hand fell away from his, leaving it to linger of its own accord. He was content obliging, but when he'd heard his name slip unintentionally breathlessly from her lips, he lost all sight of reality.

.  
|In the time it took for his sharp inhale to fill his lungs, he'd shifted his hand over her thigh, guiding it to the side in order to accommodate his advance onto the bed beside her. His next motion trapped the breath inside him, preparing him for the metaphorical plunge down past the point of no return. In the same breath that she'd called to him, he concluded it for her with his lips against hers.

.  
He had advanced on her so quickly that she didn't have time to encourage or detour his assertion; which was fine by her because she simply didn't have a response to offer. Once he was against her, there was stillness in the moment that she hadn't expected. He only lingered against her lips as long as it took his gathered breath to release from his chest, but it certainly wasn't exhaled sharply. He had remained against her long enough for her attention to be drawn to the length of his exhale.

.  
What she didn't catch upon parting was the swift inhale to follow. The only clue that he had drawn in breath after drawing away from her was the exasperated sigh that followed him raking tense fingers through his hair. "Damn," he muttered bleakly. The act of sitting back against her bed withdrew his hand from her thigh. "I didn't mean for…" He diverted his gaze sheepishly to obscure his shame. "That... came out wrong."

.  
Neirah looked down into her bedding, starting to catch chills. Such a fact reminded her that she remained in a pyjama shirt and panties. She slowly let her fingertips brush over her lips in silent contemplation with the intent on processing the fact that she'd just been kissed for the first time. What was more, was the impact of who it had been shared with. It wasn't nearly as intimidating as she'd expected. It was gentle; clean… in fact, she had been a little disappointed. "Try again?" Her suggestion was gentle, her cheeks flushing when she heard his breathing hitch expectantly before her. She leisurely rolled her coy gaze to meet his, her cheeks exposing the secrets of the heat she was trying to mask. "If it... didn't come out right," she started clumsily. "You… how did you mean it to…?"

.  
"Well," he murmured weakly to start. "I guess I meant it in the way that didn't get me thrown out the window." He casually taunted her, unsure of how he was supposed to react to her acceptance of his actions. He really hadn't thought he'd get that far.

.  
"Oh," she cooed gently. She was almost disappointed as she diverted her attention to smooth her sheets out against her bed to tidy the marks of his presence. "Well, you're still here so... Mission accomplished," she assured him ineptly. She silently promised herself that the next morning she'd bring up the strange experience with Juvia. Of course, she intended on leaving out some vital details; including the one of Laxus Dreyar being in her bed after dark and forcing himself upon her. She parted her lips, a bellowing sigh escaping her like she was overheating. She certainly hadn't needed those tidbits getting around.

.  
"You should probably start sleepin' this off if you intend on hidin' it from your brother," Laxus prattled out restlessly. "I… think.I' .out."

.  
Neirah's brow knotted as she watched her fingers fiddle in her lap, her heart heavy as he rose from her bedside in retreat. "I'm sorry if I made things weird…" She whispered her words gently, turning her concerned gaze to meet his. "I've never… uhm… kissed anyone before." She lowered her gaze with a wavy smile and gently poked her forefingers together. "Although, I don't see what all the hype is about," she mewled lightly. "I guess there's not really much to mess up." She smiled back at him, cheeks flushing ignorantly. "It wasn't really what I expected."

.  
She flinched when Laxus dropped back down onto her bed with enough dead weight to involuntarily pop her backside up in response. She observed him cautiously, even if his eyes were closed, because the irksome expression he was displaying perplexed her. "Oh?" She mewled her gentle inquiry. "I thought you were leaving?"

.  
"You still talk too much," he snarled impatiently with one brow quirking for his irritation.

.  
Neirah frowned, wondering why she'd felt insulted. "Yeesh, I was just wondering why you were leaving all of a sudden," she assured him sternly. "Forgive me for not knowing what goes on in that over inflated head of your-"

.  
He'd tried to ignore the capturing of her unsteady breath when he laid his hands on either side of her face, but her addled trembling of surprise and alarm didn't aid him. "I'm doing this for my pride," he cautioned her sternly.

.  
A few questions came to mind with his nearness, all of which were moments from being answered. She'd taken notice of every breath he took once more, but not because they were unusually long or short. This time, it was because she could feel each one whisper past her lips.

.  
She'd tried to remain relaxed, seeing as she knew there wasn't really anything to worry about. Their first kiss was relatively natural and soft; certainly not worth making the rumoured metaphorical fireworks pop off in her ears. She had assumed the second would be no different.

.  
Yet there was something different in the way he'd clutched her face, his slow approach absorbing her presence. It made her heart race. The first embrace had come and gone so quickly that she hadn't noticed the little things before, like the scent of his skin or the shimmer of intrigue in his weighted gaze. The second time, her face wasn't just close to him, she _felt_ close to him. It had made her reconsider her entire outlook on the experience. For a moment, his heartbeat was hers, their skin wasn't just connecting, it was combining. The most intimidating part of the sensation was that she knew he could feel it too. She'd known because she could feel it in the way his warm hands started to quake against her cheeks.

.  
'He talked of pride like I offered him insult…' Her thoughts were sceptical as a feeling of unfamiliar tension brewed between them. It wasn't like their casual banter, it was uncomfortable, exhilarating. It was something she didn't want to end.

.  
He'd hated that he had to use excuses to offer himself a reason to want to be closer to her. Though, he supposed he wasn't far off. He was a little irritated that she wasn't impressed with his impulsive display of genuine affection, but he'd far from indulged. It was a courtesy that she obviously hadn't appreciated, and the thought spurred his inner demons productively. She'd always thought that their playful banter was a game. To him, it simply disguised the truth by being sarcastically literal. It was a game he tired of.

.  
He'd always wanted her. But somewhere along their path, the lines between want and need were blurring with every danger they'd faced together. Every argument they'd sparked for the sake of rivalry had fanned a flame that seemed to burn deep down, and with it growing so rapidly between them that it was becoming harder to conceal.

.  
He hadn't lied when he had admitted that he hadn't meant to start a physical exchange with her, but it had been harder to deny his physical attraction when his heart ached to protect her from further harm; and in contradiction, from him. Since he'd all but been given an invitation to openly express himself, he wasn't going to waste it.

.  
He wasn't surprised when she flinched away from his nearness. She'd felt it too… whatever it was. He slid his gaze slowly to meet hers, silently monitoring the rise of fear and uncertainty overcoming it. The hitch in her breathing when he laced his fingers in her hair and fought against her retreat had his heart thundering in his ears. Her intuition had her skin trembling beneath his touch, and her vulnerability in the moment was beginning to affect him in the same way.

.  
He'd gently worked his fingers against her roots, indulging in every strand's silky embrace more for himself than for the sake of offering her comfort. His efforts had chased his name from her lips in a manner he'd never heard it escape before. Then, if he had to admit, he didn't think fear was something he'd ever seen in her eyes. His lips had finally landed on the taste of her taking her last deep breath to hold before submission and he was reminded of the presence of embers spilling from the wings of the butterflies panicking inside him. Fanning the fire beneath the creatures was easy when it felt so good to do so.

.  
"You've survived worse." With his final warning whispered against the trembling skin beneath his, he joined her in preparing for the moment he hoped would test their capacity to forfeit the very air they breathed.


	4. Shameless

**_Shameless_**

* * *

The reason for his presence against her was already fading from memory and they had only just begun. She was unresponsive beneath him, weak to his touch. It was a vulnerability she'd never let him see before. He let one of his hands wander, laying one set of fingers gently against her throat despite her quivering recoil to its presence there. Her fire hadn't extinguished, that heat that had generally kept her defiant against any and all of his actions, it had simply relocated. It was in the flush of her skin beneath his touch, letting him know when he'd broken auburn waves for the presence of her flushed ear tips.

He hadn't intended for his other hand to travel so low against her collar, but the heat of her flushing breasts under her baggy cotton top had swayed him from purpose. With it, he'd felt the uncertain well of tension inside her and was quickly reminded that he had one last chance to be her last first kiss.

.  
Neirah hadn't the slightest idea why he'd repeated his unintentional infraction, but she was still apprehensive over his approach. Even though she'd heard of the intimacy kisses could brew, she didn't feel that touching his lips was any different than touching his hand. What had stolen her breath was his adjustment in demeanour, not his touch.

.  
But something had stirred within her with the change in his expression, the whimsy in his touch; like he was waiting, wrung out with anticipation. Her uncertainty came from not knowing what had been capable of changing his once confident outlook. The idea of the self-assured lightning wizard hesitating was terrifying.

.  
Far from losing her senses to his presence, she was aware when his touch started to wander; and when it did, she'd prepared to drive an iron wrench into his subconscious plans.

.  
His fingers were well prepared to react in response to her discomfort and when she inched towards her malcontented retreat to scold him, he'd stopped her short. The moment was briefer than the blink he'd offered to check on her reaction, but he'd remember the look in her eyes an eternity as he closed his and two strong hands drew her opportunity back into his embrace.

.  
She finally understood, and whereas normally she would have scolded him for taking his sweet time, she was struck unexpectedly breathless beneath his need. The grip of once gentle hands burned with their indulgence against her scalp, and preceding the sharp breath she stole before she was sharing her airway with him, she was realising that the unexpected crane of her neck forced back was the purpose of their aggression. A primordial flare sounded between her ears as he forced her submission, and what startled her most was how content she was being manipulated for his indulgence. There was something about the way his breathing grew ragged with pent lust that had her feeling that, even if he'd thought he was in control, she'd held the power to give him everything he needed. She had the power to take it all away.

.  
She could feel her skin flush crimson with the heat of embarrassment and confusion when her parted teeth offered passage for his tongue to fold behind. Every hard rap of her heartbeat against the walls of her chest reminded her that she was lost. She had no idea how to respond and her alarm for the situation didn't aid her dim reaction time. Somewhere alongside the awkward embrace and the tension brewing between them, his touch had sparked a flame. With the ignition, came a perplexing air of natural affection that she'd never felt before. As a result, she didn't know whether to embrace him in reciprocation or run far and hide.

.  
He wasn't staggered by her clumsy and sweet attempts at mirroring his actions, but what had taken him back was that he was receiving such a response from her. There was a willingness in her exploration that he hadn't expected to experience, a shameless curiosity. A woman, once capable of striking fear into his own heart, trembled awkwardly beneath his touch offering meek attempts at reciprocating his affections. Assuring himself of the truth of her actions, he'd loosened his hungry grip on her, gently teasing the areas that were marked by his demand. In body and spirit, she was a warrior; brave, confident and all woman. But for the first time since he'd met her, he felt like her existence was fragile and soon, he'd learned that beneath the well-endowed woman's breast beat the tender heart of the child who'd never known any better.

.  
She had always been a curious little thing, and in the easing of his grip, he'd felt her find more confidence in their embrace. The matter encouraged a small smile to find his lips behind their kiss as she whimpered lightly with her frustrations. He couldn't believe his thoughts would describe Fairy Tail's Shadow as 'adorable', but her ungainly charm was becoming strangely effective.

.|  
He had long since forgotten her earlier insult on his efforts, it was hard to remember her unimpressed musings when she was left so breathless in the wake of his second attempt. The only reason left that he'd remained near to her at the moment was the sensation of completely shameless indulgence.

.  
He slipped away from her lips, keeping one of his hands against her head as he allowed her a much-needed breath while sliding his lips over her jaw. If his kiss didn't steal any and every response she had to offer, he wanted his touch to do just that. He tried to focus on his triumph as fuel, but the truth was that he'd waited a long time to feel her pulse race beneath his fingertips.

.  
He'd heard a weak catch hidden behind a startled whimper before moving his attentive touch away from her face and pressing his brow to hers. "Relax," he whispered gently for reassurance. He took a deep breath and slid his thumb over the crimson swell of her cheek. His brow creased with the unusually exhilarated tone of his own voice before he'd forced a dry swallow down his throat. "You're thinking about it too much."

.  
"Laxus Dreyar is in my bed... He's kissing me..."

.  
He didn't deny what she spiritedly articulated as truth, but he did react. His confidence was returning and curling his lips to one side with a sly grin. Growing eager, he'd laid his kisses along her jaw, tasting the anxious flush in her throat with every hastened breath escaping her. He slipped one hand beneath her hair, laying it along her spine before it slid skyward towards her nape to where it keenly kneaded her roots. With his other hand, he softly pulled her pyjama shirt collar to the side to reveal the soft skin of her shoulder to his kiss. "This is what they call love drunk." He had to hear himself say the words for them to really register in his mind and he was immediately regretting his choice in vocabulary. Love wasn't in the forecast for him, for them. It was a silly, yet accurate, sentiment that he feared might scare her off.

.  
"I'm sorry..." He could barely hear her words despite her lips being close to his ear as a result of his descending kisses.

.  
"You're nervous..."

.  
Neirah shuddered before frantically bobbing her head in concurrence.

.  
His throat bobbed nervously with his dry swallow as he hesitated, his thumb working evenly over the surface of her cheek. "Do... you want me to stop?" If his fingers weren't tangled up in her presence, he would have crossed them and prayed that she said no.

.  
She didn't, but she did rattle her head from side to side in denial, her colour deepening with shameful passion.

.  
He'd moved away from her shoulder and stroked her hair back out of her face, searching the uncertain glistening of the candlelight flickering in her gaze. His lips neared hers, his fingers tipping her chin into his intentions. "You know what they say about the third time, right?" He was having a hard time comprehending how good it felt to have the weight of his words lingering in the still midnight air around them. "Just… let me lead."

.  
Neirah's vision was weak and distorted by her loss of focus but she could vaguely make out the sight of her most cherished memory guiding her hand to lie against his neck. She closed her eyes, lips parted breathlessly as she focused on comprehending the feeling of his palm resting on top of hers. She could feel his pulse racing beneath her trembling fingertips through the thick veins in his neck.

.  
"Take a deep breath," she'd heard him say.

.  
She'd kept her eyes sealed as she filled her chest with his presence, and then she felt him return. She had grown bolder since learning what to expect when he'd laid his lips against hers, knowing that once they parted, he'd claim the space for himself. Her fingertips flinched against his neck with the feeling of his hands finding their way back to her body. It was at that moment that she had determined she would be more than willing to share the space with him. With a settling inhale, she curled her fingers around his nape and parted her lips invitingly.

.  
His shuttering exhale against her swell in fervour was a sign of great restraint as he felt the dance of her fingers mingling with the hair on the back of his neck. He was losing his senses, intoxicated by the taste of her innocence. It was something he had never imagined he'd experience with her. It was something the greed of his desire was anxious to claim all to himself.

.  
She was starting to develop a responsive technique to his hunger and it had helped him to lengthen the leash he'd set upon himself. Soon, his fingers were placing themselves back in her dishevelled locks, his weight shifting further onto the bed than when he'd lingered on its side. 'Bad idea,' he repeated to himself in thought. 'This was a very bad-'

.  
His sentiment practically finished itself with the breathless and heady little moan meeting his tongue within their kiss. 'If her brother asks, she started it.'

.  
A quiet and ravenous groan uttered her name in response to her anxious whimpering as the remainder of his weight joined hers among her bed sheets. He had regretted not taking a moment to adjust to a better position above her as he laid her down beneath him. The heat of her skin through her thin panties teased his anxious nerves with the inconvenient placement of his knee between her thighs and her gentle writhing was far from aiding the matter.

.  
He had found himself slipping away from their kiss, a bitter curse on his burning lips with the welling of his desperation. "Shit…" He breathed the word in quiet exasperation, laying his gentle kisses on her shoulder.

.  
Neirah stared at the ceiling, her gentle sapphire gaze weighted with arousal. "Laxus… you'd tell me if I was doing something wrong, right?" She slipped her hand up into his hair, anxiously massaging his scalp.

.  
He closed his eyes and swayed into her exploration. "Maybe," he started huskily. He quietly opened his eyes to allow himself the thrill of the sight beneath. "It feels too good to catch a damn break." He lost his train of thought for a minute as he watched the swell of her flushed chest pant out her hard breaths beneath him. Her baggy pyjama top had inched up her lean abdomen enough that it had displayed the tail of the star at her navel. He'd forced a dry swallow down his throat with the twitching of his needy grasp in the bedsheets along her side. Following the glistening tremor of the jewels reminded him that she had never put her pants back on since he'd helped bandage her thigh and he was forced to close his eyes once more to flex his grip with restraint. "Can't think," he assured her hoarsely.

.  
"You too?" She whimpered gently, instinctively tipping her head back in exposure to his hot trail of wet kisses. "I'm glad…"

.  
When he moved away from her with a heavy sigh, Neirah gently raised her fingers to where she could slide them over his parted lips. "I didn't think you wanted this," she whispered softly. She was enraptured by the simplicity of watching him nuzzle his face into her palm.

.  
"I thought you said you couldn't think," he reminded gently. Through his quaint smile, he placed a hard kiss on her palm before directing it over his shoulder. With his own diversion, he braced himself carefully above her and pressed a languid kiss on her exposed collar. She had barely uttered her response when his was rashly escaping against her sensitive earlobe. "I want to touch you…" He subconsciously assured himself that he would knock his head off something for sounding so pathetically needy some other time. With a trembling inhale, he slowly raised his fingertips to her exposed abdomen where their whisper-soft caress met with her satin skin. His brow furrowed over his tightly sealed eyes as he listened to her breathing tremor against his ear with his touch. "I can't help it." He tried to keep his words from trembling as he spoke them. With her silence on the matter, he allowed his fingertips to travel up a lazy trail of indulgence against her taut figure, his opposing hand curling in and around the waves of hair cascading around the pillow he'd laid her against. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, staring into her headboard as he held her still against him. "If I cross a line, just kick my ass," he suggested genuinely.

.  
"Impossible," she whispered ambiguously. She'd smoothed her palms over his chest above her. There was a hum of inquiry in his soft groan in response to her certainty. "I don't understand it." She linked their hands against her head and gently drew his before her, whimsically tracing every crease with a tender caress. "How can someone so big and strong have such gentle hands?" She drew his hand to her lips, slowly closing her eyes. "I thought I might've imagined it. But even on the first day I met you, they were just as considerate." She slowly opened her eyes, staring at his shirt as his fingertips lingered against her lips. "Delicate… with a lost little girl…"

.  
He closed his eyes, the skip in his heartbeat almost painful with her supportive declaration. "They're not always," he whispered in grim admittance.

.  
"That's because they're made to defend..."

.  
He backed away from her and looked down into her contented expression, a stern look of caution in his expression as he reclaimed his touch. "I'm serious," he assured her. He tried to keep his voice as gentle as his contact as he brushed the backs of his reclaimed fingers over her willingly receptive cheek. "I'm in a hundred places at once right now... Don't let me lose my head." He lost the certainty in his demand as he watched her curl into his touch with an affectionate mewl, his gaze following the trace of her curves. "I don't wanna be the one to dilute your opinion of your heroes."

.  
He was relieved to see the dangerous spark of heat flash in her sapphire gaze as she offered him a smug grin in response to his concerns. "Am I so irresistible?" Her teasing had the colour rising in her cheek to admit her modesty. "That the almighty Laxus Dreyar would risk that a Shadow's opinion would somehow tarnish his regal reputation."

.  
He swooped down and gently captured her lips in a quick and shallow kiss. "It's more likely just hangin' around me will wreck yours."

.  
"My big brother single-handedly levelled two wizarding guilds and half a city," she purred quietly. "I'm no stranger to associating with 'bad boys'."

.  
He was barely capable of offering her the soft smile he felt welling within his chest. "Didn't your brother ever teach you not to throw fuel on a fire?"

.  
She smiled back at him as he rose above her, her fingers patting weak trails along his chiselled abdomen with the wandering of her guilty gaze. "He'd even collect if for me," she whispered whimsically. She slid her gaze towards his from beneath her brow. "But sometimes… burning is half the fun." It had taken her losing his presence against her to remind her that winter's storm raged on outside her window while she lay sprawled in her sheets wearing very little. "And it's… so cold…"

.  
He didn't bother adding on to her sentiment as he adjusted his knee far from where her heat threatened to take the whole room up in flames around them. The glittering of the chain lying against her navel was driving him crazy. It sat like a bow, topping the soft flesh that encased his little warrior. Perhaps nostalgia had him feeling like a kid at Christmas, but he was starting to believe that nothing under his tree could make him happier than her body wrapped in silk sheets. She didn't stop him when his breath met the tail of the astral jewels at her navel even though his presence made hers catch in her throat. With such silent encouragement, he proceeded on the assumption that Christmas had come early that year.

.  
Neirah didn't have much to offer the situation; she was far too lost in the new sensations. Even so, she was desperate to cling to them and the feeling of bliss washing over her. Outside of boldly screaming 'yes' on repeat, she figured a subtler approach would be suitable.

.  
Laxus groaned softly against her tummy with the feeling of her tugging on his hair, releasing the jewels he was playing with in order to speak. "I can't believe I let a little thing like you beat the hell outta me." He dipped his tongue past the charm and slowly slid it up the centre of her belly as he ascended. "Twice…" He gave a low growl, breathing his disapproval against the smooth definition of her body's lines. "Pretty damn pathetic if you ask me." He nuzzled at the hem of her shirt with the debate of going higher. With a gentle sigh, he smoothed his palm gently around her waist, raising his gaze to hers. "I want a rematch."

.  
Neirah offered him a timid grin in response, her curious fingertips finding his jaw as it lingered close to her chest. "It's not like you to go picking fights, Sparky," she mused carefully.

.  
"I've never been put on my ass so easily before," he admitted slyly. He allowed his thumb to trace her abdomen as he raised her shirt hem towards the underside of her full breasts. "It's embarrassing."

.  
"Now I'm starting to think that it was less my strength as a wizard and more these thoughts running through your head that crippled you." She slipped her palm back over his brow and into his hair, smiling playfully as he shook his tuft of bangs right back into place. She squirmed with her resistance to the delicate tickle of his fingers rising along her side. "We _are_ still talking about our encounter in the forest, right?" she mewled distantly. "The day you swore you'd met your most obsessive stalker?"

.  
"Wouldn't matter," he dismissed bluntly. He had to admit that he was slightly humiliated that he'd ever lost their first encounter from memory. "Here, there; I haven't managed to beat you yet." He brushed his nose against hers and gently curled to one side to kiss the corner of her mouth. "I think you drop me harder, faster, every time."

.  
She sighed whimsically and rolled into his kiss. "One can only fall so far," she assured him confidently. She couldn't help it; she was melting beneath the soft smile she received in response.

.  
"Tell that to someone who's still fallin'…"


	5. Boy with the Broken Smile

**Boy with the Broken Smile**

* * *

.  
.

Neirah's smile faded when she watched realisation falter his expression solemnly, a silent apology in the way his lips quivered with the need to take back what he'd already said. He diverted his gaze, swirling his fingers in lazy circles against her side to mark his fidgeting thoughts. It seemed to her that he wanted to touch her, but was trying to excuse the fact that he was against his own code of ethics. She'd anticipated that he was going to rephrase his statement, claiming that he didn't really mean for it to expel in such a suggestive manner. But he didn't. Instead, he laid his lips gently against her sternum in silent contemplation. There was an ugly knot in his brow that looked painfully twisted under the pressure of his indecision.  
.

"Don't go," she whimpered out lightly. There was a gentle pleading in her expression as she cupped his face in her hands and returned his attention to where she could observe it.  
.

He peeked up at her expectantly, quickly checking his peripherals for signs of alternate company before returning his inquisitive gaze back to hers. "I… wasn't-"  
.

"I wasn't talking to you." Her tone was stern through the bashful smile on her lips as she teased him, delicate fingertips dancing over his lips. She laughed lightly with his suspicion, feeling the attentive recoil in his muscles with alertness. She observed him for another quiet moment, silently taking in features she'd never seen so gentle before, something she'd never been given the opportunity to do until that moment. Surrendering indulgence for the sake of his understanding, she dipped down and kissed his forehead. "Your smile," she whispered breathlessly.

.  
"My…-?"

.  
Her gentle grin snuck up on one side. "You probably didn't know," she started slowly. "But when we first met, I couldn't understand why you were so grumpy."

.  
His tension relaxed as he fought the need to outwardly laugh at her abrupt admittance. "I didn't know it bugged you that much," he taunted dryly. His next breath was staggered as he redirected his gaze to where she laid her fingers gently over his lips to encourage his silence. He couldn't actively recall anyone doing that to him before.

.  
"I'm talking now, Sparky," she informed him playfully. He tipped his gaze back to hers and remained obediently silent as she continued. "Maybe that's why I remembered it so clearly." She stifled a giggle as she watched his diverted gaze fade with his contentment, his head rocking inattentively to the side with the encouraging pressure of her affectionate petting. "The boy with the broken smile."

.  
He rolled his lethargic gaze back her way. "It's not broken," he defended roguishly.

.  
"Oh good, you _are_ listening," she mewled. She moved her affectionate scritches to his nape so that he could lay his head down on her belly. "For a moment, I thought I'd lost you."

.  
"Keep it up and I won't be goin' anywhere," he rumbled softly. He wasn't sure what was so alluring about the way she was touching him. It wasn't an overly pleasurable touch, but it was the way she was doing it, the way she was paying attention to his comfort and adjusting her touch to prolong his bliss. He narrowly concealed a throaty groan by articulating it as a deep sigh. "Now I know how a lap-dog feels."

.  
She laughed openly at his complete detachment to his own dry remark. "Well at least your sense of humour isn't broken," she cooed. She watched intently as he rested his face against her abdomen and closed his eyes.

.  
"You were telling a story," he reminded her deeply.

.  
"Yes, I was," she concurred patiently.

.  
"Keep talkin'..."

.  
Her tender smile grew tighter as it expanded over her face, her eyes smiling peacefully over the delicate beam. "Even when Ryverika had left me and I wanted to give up, my feet kept moving beneath me." He cast an indirect glance her way, his heart starting to race as it met the curl of the smile she used for those that she loved. His gaze came out of sluggish hibernation and grew instantly more attentive. "Because I just had to find the lonely boy from Magnolia's market," she whispered softly. "And make him smile."

.  
He'd barely heard her conclusion, it was breathed so gently, but then perhaps he was just a bit distracted by the look on her face. It was the same smile she smiled when she spoke about her dragon, her mother, her big brother. He adjusted in her lap, rising to lean over her resting figure as his expression humbled with her airy presence. "That look..." If he had to admit, there might have been a bit of longing weighing his palm as he reached out and laid his fingers against her face.

.  
"What look-?"

.  
"Tell me more... about your mother or the old lizard." His expression showed traces of pain as he tried to cling to the sight of that special, cherished smile for just a little longer. His tone even accelerated with his desperation to hold on. "Hell, I don't care if you talk about your brother."

.  
Neirah's brow bunched in confusion. "But why...?"

.  
He knocked his brow against hers, watching the uncertain tremble in her lips as he divulged in something that had been bothering him for a long time. "When you talk about them… when you hold that ratty book or scribble in your sketch pad… it's there." She didn't bother asking him what he was talking about because the look in his eyes assured her that he wasn't done speaking. "You get that same look… every time."

.  
"You mentioned that earlier," she hummed gently. With a weighty breath, she slowly slid her fingers around the back of his neck and began to fondle the roots at his nape to try and help him reclaim the peacefully inebriated state he'd lingered in before the subject had been broached. "Why does that matter?"

.  
"I'm jealous," he admitted curtly. He could feel her flinch bemusement to his remark, but something about the night had him craving just a little bit of honesty between the two of them; just once. His thumb lazily swayed back and forth between the corner of her mouth and her jaw. "Kinda like how you wanted to fix me, I-" Realising that in his blissful state of mind he was admitting a little more than he'd prepared to, he backed away from her to clear his head. She'd intoxicated him with far too much hope, her presence soothing him into a sweetly vacant state where fantasy and reality began to mesh. He sat on her bedside, staring at the floor by his feet with the ashamed completion of his sentiment. "I guess... I just wanted to imagine that someone could look like that when they talked about... me."

.  
Neirah's wide and vacant gaze trembled as she looked back at him, slowly sitting up in bed to offer their interaction the entirety of her attention. "Laxus…" Her whimper was gentle as she watched him stare somberly ahead.

.  
"I know; it's crazy. And maybe I'm seein' things," he surrendered uncertainly. "Hell, I can't even figure out why I'm still here." He laid his head in his hands, bracing his elbows on his knees. "But I don't… want to leave…"

.  
Neirah shifted in her sheets, keeping her gaze locked with his tense figure as he wrung his roots like, through them, he'd thought he could milk the desperation from his brain. She sat behind him in the centre of the bed, her fists pressed between her thighs as her fingers fiddled with the hem of the long shirt falling back down around her abdomen.

.  
She watched the candlelight dance in the shadows she cast over his shoulders, the phantoms darkening as her fingers grew nearer. When her touch connected with the tension beneath, she closed her eyes with a gentle sigh to steady her nerves. She didn't know him overly intimately, but what she did know gave her the courage to try. "Then I guess you weren't listening when I told you about the lonely boy in Magnolia."

.  
He closed his eyes, just enjoying the feeling of her warm body pressing up against him. Her presence filled him with a comfort he was fighting, but desperate to embrace. "I was…" He tried to reassure her, but he was more distracted than ever in wishing that her full breasts were pressed against his chest rather than his shoulders; and that she was fully bare when she did so.

.  
She smiled against his shoulder with his weak defence, and with it, she placed a slow, gentle kiss on his nape. "I don't do it on purpose," she whispered tenderly. She quietly smoothed her hand around his throat to his face. "This look that you speak of."

.  
With her encouragement, Laxus looked back at her through his lacklustre gaze when she beckoned his attention over his shoulder. She smiled encouragingly back at him as her second hand crawled beneath his arm to rest on his chest. He could feel her lips moving against his shoulder blade despite her actual articulation being hidden from sight. "But I can assure you that anything I feel for those you listed, I feel for that lonely boy too."

.  
Stricken with the intriguing sentiment, he turned away from her when her kisses landed on his neck just beneath his ear. "So what I saw… just now…?"

.  
Neirah smiled behind her delicate kisses, whispering her response against the tip of his ear. "Anything you saw was for the boy in the market. If you had really paid attention, Ryverika wasn't what kept me moving forward."

.  
Laxus stared distantly into the floor, swaying with the intoxication of her adventurous touch. "Tell me," he started hesitantly. "Tell me more about… _him_ …" He dipped his attention to where both of her hands had found their way to his chest, her lean fingers passing the buttons of his shirt through their catches.

.  
"Well… when I had met him, he looked pretty down. Or at least, I think he did. There had to have been a reason he was so grouchy. But see, he had these really nifty headphones that were kind of distracting." She placed a spirited smile on her lips against his shoulder. "And then, he had this really cute little scar… just over his right eye. It's how I knew I would find him again."

.  
He didn't know whether he wanted to miss her touch on his chest or revel in its adjustment as it gently traced the scar on his face. " _Cute_? That's a first." His voice was hoarse, his throat dry with the intake of his ragged breaths.

.  
"Adorable," she breathed out against his earlobe. Outside of his comprehension, she nibbled on her lips as she took notice of the way he'd shuddered when she'd spoken against his skin. She muffled a charming giggle behind him before cooing her musical reply. "But he was kind of a jerk."

.  
Laxus tried very hard to keep his humble grin from showing with her remark. "Sounds like him…"

.  
"Oh? You know the boy of which I speak?" she mocked. "Because you see, I've been looking for him _everywhere_. I still need to ask him where I can buy drawing pencils."

.  
"Is that what you were after?"  
.

"Mhm~ So, if you have any information on his whereabouts-"

.  
His subtle smirk escaped his ability to contain it. "Yea, I've heard of him," he murmured coarsely while turning to face her. He rested one of his knees against her bed, balling his fists in the bedding on either side of her dainty figure as he leant over her. "I might just kick his ass for pickin' on little girls."

.  
"Ahp!" She moved her head to one side in denial of his advance, allowing him space to spread his kisses over her throat instead. "He distinctly said that he _didn't_ make a habit of picking on little girls."

.  
There was a dangerous look in Laxus' eyes as he backed away from her to allow their gazes to connect. "And you believed him?"

.  
"I have no reason to doubt him," she whispered affectionately. She rocked back to allow him the room he needed to get closer. Her cheeks flushed with guilt as she finished undoing the last button of his shirt, nibbling at her lips again with the way her thoughts polluted. He'd been more than willing to play her little games, but when she looked back at him with that beaming smile of adoration, he'd lost his breath. "He's always believed in me."

.  
The silence extended between them for a long moment as he lingered on his thoughts, one hand rising to hold her face. "There… stay," he whispered huskily. There was a desperation in his touch as the articulation of his words saw their lips connected. "I want to… kiss… that smile…"

.  
He couldn't comprehend much more than the taste of her gentle kiss, the weight of her arms draped over his shoulders, the feeling of her desperation in the way she tugged on the roots of his hair. Nothing else really seemed to matter. He brushed the back of his fingers over her arms, and during, he came to realise that the space they lingered in during the moment they shared might've been too vast.

.  
He continued his way up her arm until his hand could reach hers against his shoulder. "You're cold?"

.  
Neirah smiled against his lips, bracing her forehead against his as she raced to catch her breath before they connected again. "Well, other than it being winter, there are _other_ reasons a girl could catch chills."

.  
He drew her fingers to his lips and kissed them before he encouraged her to lie back beneath him. "Like her fever spiking?" His thoughts grew dark and discouraged with his musings as he laid his palm over her brow.

.  
She scurried back towards her headboard with a melodic laugh. "I'm not sick," she demanded. "Tea makes it all better."

.  
"I thought sick was kinda your thing?" He mumbled through his sly grin upon his approach. He sat back on his knees and drew her comforter up around her head. "Maybe this is a good time for lights out."

.  
Neirah squirmed beneath him defensively, struggling to keep him from covering her head with her fluffy blanket. Something inside her panicked instantly to think that he might actually leave her to rest. That was the last thing she'd wanted. "I'm not tired!" She laughed out energetically. "Hey! Let me out!" She emitted a shrill and muffled cry as she toppled to the side, entangled in her blanket. "Oof! Sparky!" she whined.

.  
"Keep squirmin' like that and you actually might overheat," he teased. His words against her caused her to flinch with his sudden breath against her knee.

.  
"When did you, get down there?" She hummed her startled reply gently, halting her fussing to listen attentively for his response.

.  
He smiled against her knee, his palm smoothing up her calf to raise her leg. "I haven't moved," he assured her smoothly. "You flail a lot…"

.  
Neirah could feel her cheeks and ears warm with her embarrassment. "You should've seen when Screwball used to try and bathe me," she assured him with an amused purr.

.  
Laxus let a throaty growl rumble against her inner thigh. "I'd like to try my hand at that."

.  
Neirah's eyes widened behind her blanket with his response and she'd surprised herself with how swiftly a clear-thinking mind could find her way out of the mess she'd found herself in. She popped her head out with a grateful breath before looking down at him curiously. "Did you just growl at me?"

.  
Laxus rolled his lazy peripheral gaze her way. "What if I did?"

.  
Her lips parted to retaliate but she'd lost her words shortly after. "I… I don't know," she stammered out softly. "I think… I kinda liked it."

.  
"Tsk, between that and the petting, we really need to get you a dog." He diverted his attention as she unburied herself, his fingers grazing the bandage he'd helped her reapply. "Does it still hurt?" There was genuine concern in his level tone as he adjusted the bandages that her flailing had loosened.

.  
Neirah sat up in bed and looked down to where he was lying alongside her. "A little," She admitted softly. "All my flailing probably didn't help." Gently whining, she didn't battle his efforts when he reached up and took a hold of her shoulders, pulling her down onto the bed into his company.

.  
"Then stop flailing," he murmured sincerely. He looked back at her for a long and silent moment. She'd laid opposite to him her feet towards the headboard, his towards the foot of the bed. He reached out and slipped his fingers into her wild auburn locks as they spilt down among the tousled sheets. He delighted in everything from their silky presence to their scent of blossoms. She had beautiful bed-head and it ensnared him as it spread across the sheets in kinky, dishevelled waves. It was natural, welcoming even. It had made him feel closer to her to learn a side of her that she didn't show to just anybody. "Are you not worried that your brother might've taken a wrong turn and got lost in the storm while he was lookin' for you?"

.  
Neirah observed past his touch into his relaxed expression, watching him let her hair cascade from his fingertips. "He's tough," she reassured him gently. "To be honest, I'm kind of enjoying the time to myself."

.  
Again, he'd felt himself growing far too attached. He retired his fidgety touch to the sheets and attempted to alter the direction of his thoughts. "Is that what this is?" He humbly leant forwards to press his lips against hers. "You should have 'you' days more often."

.  
Neirah smiled into their kiss as a result of the awkwardness coming from their inverted attempt. It had made their contact exhilarating. Her dark lashes remained a flutter for a moment after he'd parted before she levelled her deeply shaded attention his way. "Do you regret missing out on this back when you won it fair and square?" She hadn't meant to strike a chord with him, but as his content smile faded, she was worried she had. She worried that maybe she was feeling just a little too comfortable in his presence a little too soon.

.  
"I regret a lot of things," he muttered bleakly. His fingers returned to smoothing her hair indolently from her face. "But I don't want you to regret me."

.  
Neirah's brow knotted as she tipped her observance to one side, equally relieved and heartbroken when he offered her a lonely smile in response.

.  
"We'll keep this between us."

.  
"I don't mind," she whispered soothingly. She raised her fingers to brush against his collar. As a matter-of-fact, it suited her just fine to keep such a detrimental truth from her brother. "As long as I can see you smile every now and then. That's all I ever wanted."

.  
He was relieved, at first, until he'd taken a moment to comprehend how casually she had dismissed their affections as a triviality. She wasn't disappointed in the least, which made him a little jealous. It seemed that their encounter was weighing much heavier in his heart than hers. But, perhaps that was because she didn't quite understand it.

.  
She watched him adjust on the bed so that he could lay parallel to her instead. His look was serene but perplexed when he reached out and shifted the back of his forefinger over the flushed swell of her cheek. "What do you see in me that makes you say stuff like that?"

.  
She smiled back at him and laid her fingers against the base of his throat. "Well, with a proper collar and leash, I could see that dog you think I should have," she taunted cheekily. Noticing that he might've been more serious than he'd originally let on, she proceeded with her true response. "Ok well, for starters, I didn't realise that when I finally saw your smile, I was going to like it so much. It meant a lot to me before, but after I grew to know more about the man behind it-" She tilted her head to the side and traced his lips with her finger. "Then, I started to notice some other things that I liked. Things that… only a woman would notice, I guess."

.  
He rolled his eyes with a bleak groan. "Oh, yeah…"

.  
"Well!" she started with a gleeful smile. "I'm still just a girl! And no matter how tough you are, it's kind of hard not to notice the warmth of a heart even if it does beat beneath-" She cocked a brow with the dull quirk of her lips, signalling to his entirety. "You know… this."

.  
He blinked back at her, almost insulted by the words that had flipped around and left him shocked. "There is _no_ way that the first thing you noticed about me was that _I_ was a 'nice guy'," he muttered curtly.

.  
"No, the first thing was your-"

.  
"You know what I meant."

.  
"And why not?" She defended her statement, curling her expression into a defiant little pout. "I mean, you could stand to go back a bit in time before you were all… this… but I knew from the moment I met you that you played the hard exterior. Now you just… are… the hard exterior."

.  
Laxus looked down at the bare chest she kept poking, feeling like he should be offended by her lack of interest in his physique. "And what's wrong with that?" he interrogated.

.  
"Well, I mean, you're prettier than me, for starters."  
.

Laxus' breath hitched grimly in acknowledgement, utterly baffled by her misconception of the world sometimes.

.  
She leant forward and pressed against his skin repeatedly with two flat palms. "And I mean, does all this muscle make it hard to swim?"

.  
"You _must_ be joking."

.  
"Am I?" She pouted seriously. "I don't think I've ever seen you in the pool. And it's gotta be heavy, no? Who here would be capable of saving you if you drowned, hm? Not my brother, that's for darn sure."  
.

He scoffed and tilted his flushed expression away. "I can never tell whether you're playin' around or not…"

.  
Neirah sighed and laid her hand over his heart, drawing his attention back to hers seriously. "You asked me what I saw in you, and this was what it was," she assured him genuinely. "Cheesy or not. Beneath the tough guy, the boy I met fourteen years ago is still there. The one who cared enough to help me to my feet when I was down on my knees."

.  
"You forget the reason you were down there."

.  
"The same reason that I wished death upon you at the start of this night. I'm not saying that you can't still be a jerk, but you didn't leave me in the snow on my porch either. You're there when it really counts. A man made to defend, one that protects what he... cares about..." She assured him with a comforting grin. "I... don't know much about these things, but I do know that having a friend isn't about smiling all the time. Sometimes you just can't." She smiled back at him tenderly and let her palm slide down over his abdomen. "I think it's knowing what to do with those smiles that build a friendship. When I decided to cherish the thought of yours, it saw me back here. Even when the guild was waiting for you to come back, I didn't let them get to me with their stories and rumours.

.  
By the way, Kinana thinks you're cute."

.  
"Who?"

.  
"Nevermind," she teased in high spirits. "All I know is that I don't regret all the years I spent looking for you," she assured him tenderly. "I'd do it all again if it meant I saw the smile of the first human I ever called 'friend'."

.  
He had tried hard not to dwell on her sentimentality, but the power of her words had struck him hard. He'd never heard somebody articulate such genuine and powerfully tender feelings his way before. The guilt he'd felt for turning her devotion away stung even harder than before knowing how much their time together meant to her; how much he'd continued to mean to her. He'd diverted his attention for a moment before he decided that he wasn't going to ruin a pleasant evening by dwelling on the negative. He'd loathe himself later. "Hold on, I want to go back to what you said about ' _this_ '." He growled impatiently and slid his hands over her waist to draw her tight against him.

.  
Neirah laughed perkily, beginning to squirm against him. "Laxus-"

.  
He groaned softly and sank his fingers into her hair, tipping her head back to draw her lips to his. "I like how that sounds," he mused appreciatively.

.  
"What?"

.  
"My name… the way you say it." He whispered against her lips before sealing his observation with a kiss. "No more of this 'Sparky' crap…"

.  
Neirah offered him a wavy smile upon parting, delighting in the feeling of him stroking her hair out of her face during their embrace. "I really didn't mean to insult you," she mewled against him.

.  
"I'm over it," he rumbled hungrily. "I've been called worse." He took her by surprise when he skipped the innocence of their gentle kisses to slide his tongue straight past her teeth.

.  
She whimpered softly in response, her cheeks colouring with the hunger of his audacious actions. After backing away from her, he took her hand and placed it on his abdomen over his guild mark, slowly encouraging her to slide it around his waist. "But in my defence… you did this on your own," he rumbled mischievously. A sly grin curled the lips that he pressed against hers. "So you can't blame me for assuming it was because you saw somethin' you liked."

.  
Neirah flinched with his insinuation, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed with the reality of his truth. "Oh god, you're right." She gasped uncertainly, staring back at the wall as his dark chuckle tickled her neck beneath his kisses. "I didn't really think of it that way."

.  
He backed away from her and looked down at her bashful expression. "I've never had to work in reverse before," he admitted roughly. "But it suits me fine, it's a hell of a lot harder to get a girl to see past your body. But I think I can make you appreciate it."

.  
Neirah's brows furrowed curiously. "Hold up. Are you saying that's what got _your_ attention?"

.  
"Yea, it was." He murmured his bold words against her shoulder behind his playful kisses, not a lick of hesitation in his quip. His grip around her waist tightened as she tried to squirm free, the most entertained of sinister chuckles in his throat.

.  
"You shallow son-of-a-"

.  
Neirah was interrupted when his lips crashed against hers in a slightly more passionate exchange than their previous ones. Slowly, he was loosening up around her. "Come on, can you blame me?" His tone wavered sheepishly. "I didn't say that's why I was still here, or trust me, that top would be on the floor too." He sighed haughtily with the soft and encouraging look of curiosity on her features. "But a smart little cult kid like yourself must've figured out long ago that you had it made from sixteen on."

.  
"Ahh, there's the creep," she breathed out lightheartedly. "I was wondering how long it'd take him to visit."

.  
He rolled his gaze slowly over their situation, a weighted groan rattling in his chest as he slid his hand past her waist and over the curve of her firm backside. Hearing her breathing still in her throat, he moved swiftly in redirecting her knee to hook up over his hips, his touch growing gentle as it slid past her wounded thigh. He looked back up at her from beneath his brow. "He's been here the whole time, sweetheart."


	6. Whatever This Is

**Whatever This Is**

* * *

.  
.

Neirah slowly rolled her fingertips over his parted lips, his confident smile fading with the serenity in her warm expression. He'd found himself a little rattled with surprise as she embraced the nearness he'd encouraged between them, her body shimmying closer to his as she hid her comfortable features against his chest. "To tell the truth…" The feeling of his heartbeat through his chest against the brow she'd braced against his warm skin was making her heart ache. "It does make me feel different, lying here with you… like this."  
.

He focused on keeping his breathing steady, so he didn't disturb her peaceful resting place too much, surprising himself again with the courtesy he went out of his way to offer her. "Different how?"

.  
"I know it's cold outside, in here even… but I feel so warm."

.  
His brow furrowed as he tipped his concerned gaze down toward her sleepy expression. "You sure you're not catching fever after your little adventure tonight?" He would have killed to know where such genuine concern was manifesting within him.

.  
"I don't think so." She tipped her gaze back to his with flushed cheeks. "It doesn't feel like sick." She'd taken one of his hands in hers and drawn it to her lips, closing her eyes to kiss a delicate trail over his fingertips. "But… it feels different from the way being near you would normally make me feel."

.  
He cocked a brow, a sly grin on his lips as he worked his fingers absently against her scalp. "You mean pissed off?"

.  
She laughed lightly, her lack of fervent defence causing genuine concern to weigh in his heart. "No, I say a lot of stuff… but I miss you… when you're not around." She smiled gently to herself and laid her free hand against his chest. "But I let you leave." Her admittance was sheepish, and she was starting to grow a little fonder of the lines she traced with small, subtle fingertips. "It's different now… because… I don't want to let you leave this time."  
.

He tipped his lips to the top of her head for a long moment, coddling her cuddly figure to his chest among a tangled mess of hair and bed sheets. "You want me to stay?" A modest smirk found his lips against her hair with his playful inquiry. "You'd trust me to keep my hands to myself?"  
.

Neirah smiled and nuzzled his chest affectionately. "I don't want you to keep your hands to yourself," she mewled innocently. "I want them to stay right here where they are."

.  
Her innocence touched him. He looked up at the ceiling before slowly rolling his gaze back to her tender expression. "I've never been so ok with that," he admitted deeply. He sighed and hid his guilty smile against the fountain of auburn waves atop her head. He closed his eyes and laid his palm against her thigh, lightly rolling his studious fingertips over the back of it while she rested it against his hip. He gently massaged the back of her wounded leg as he spoke. "And your leg?"

.  
"Still hurts," she assured him gently. "It's not so bad when I don't think about it though."

.  
"My bad." He smiled with her playful teasing and gently kissed her neck. "Sorry for bringin' it up again then," he crooned impishly. He'd forgotten to breathe again as she laid her hand on top of his, pinning it between her palm and her thigh as she intertwined their fingers against her skin.

.  
"Laxus?"

.  
He redirected his attention her way with her gentle beckoning. "Hm?"

.  
"Do you really think I'm pretty?" She diverted her attention to hide her shame. "I mean, sometimes you really convince my brother that you want me, other times, I'm just a scrawny little brat… I'm always sick and sometimes it's hard to find an appetite when you're not feeling good so…"

.  
He couldn't figure out why such an innocent inquiry felt as if a justifiably delicate response was required. He'd contemplated how hard it would be to tell a girl that she was gorgeous beyond words; pretty, an understatement. But he couldn't muster a response, especially when he'd worked so hard on denying it to himself for so long. "I guess we've both been pretty hard on each other for a while now," he admitted quietly. "Me, always callin' you scrawny… you and…" He smiled briefly at the thought as he cocked an eyebrow with his amusement. "This." His heart fluttered when she giggled against him and he caught her chin beneath his finger, redirecting her gaze his way. He tried not to let the notice of her eye colour swap falter his expression when he met her pale diamond gaze in place of the deep blue one she'd harboured for the bulk of their evening. "I'm no poet or anything like that… but the truth is that I'd do just about anything to stay here with you tonight." He diverted his guilty gaze, impatient with his lack of articulation. "But you know… not just 'cause you're nice to look at but… other reason's too…like-"

.  
His eyes widened for a moment as his next defensive breath was stolen by surprise and intrigue. Her lips against his felt different in the moment that she'd pulled him down against her by the chain around his neck and he had to admit, he'd liked it. He closed his eyes and melded into the blissful exchange she'd encouraged between them. Soft and warm, every gentle entanglement had him lusting for more. The hard part was keeping his sweating palms in check when all they wanted to do was memorise every curve of her luscious figure and save the knowledge for later.

.  
"Damn," he breathed out heavily upon his release.

.  
Neirah snickered lightly and swept her fingers back through his hair. "Took the breath right outta ya, huh Sparky?" she hummed affectionately.

.  
He was far from coherent, his mind reeling with thoughts of passionate embraces and affectionate musings. The solid impact of realisation would have taken him from his feet if he'd been on them. He was her whole world. "Yeah, I think you took a little more than that-" He caught his breath before completing his sentiment, his heart pounding hard in his chest as he snapped his teeth together, his cheeks igniting with humiliated fever. "I…"

.  
Neirah smiled back at him warmly, both hands against his face as she nuzzled her nose against his. "Stay with me?" She'd spent more time looking down towards his damp lips than at the devastated look in his eyes. "I promise if my brother shows up I'll get rid of him but… I just like… how it feels… This." She whispered her breathless conclusion against his lips before claiming them in a gentle kiss. "Whatever it is…"

.  
His brow creased disdainfully with his heartache as he indulged in her affectionate embraces. He didn't like how good it felt. He couldn't. Her naivety could deny the truth of what he knew was happening, but he couldn't. "One hell of a good night," he whispered weakly against her parting lips. "That's what this is." He gently stroked some of her hair from alongside her face, his passing thumb catching on the ink beneath her eyes. "And the weather's hell out there," he argued rhetorically. "I'd have to be some kind of idiot to choose that over… whatever this is."

.  
Neirah beamed with delight as she slowly slipped away from him and returned her head to her pillow by the headboard. He watched her patiently, his fingers continuing to sweep over the lines beneath one of her big, bright eyes as they rested.

.  
"Are you trying to figure out whose tattoos are cooler, because yours definitely win that one," she purred through her sleepy smile. She'd kept her eyes closed and gaze rested as he continued to smooth his thumb over the dark ink she sported.

.  
"Wasn't what I was thinkin'," he muttered solemnly. "At least... it was my own decision to get mine."  
.

Neirah quietly opened her eyes and looked back at him as he traced the tattoos beneath them.

.  
His expression grew frustrated, angry even as he continued to stare at the little marks. "But you… I mean, who can just... take an innocent little kid and mark up their face without a second thought?" He was filled with undeniable rage to consider that her beautiful face would forever be marked with the scars of her cruel past.

.  
Neirah's solemn expression didn't seem too affected when she gently responded. "The same people who could use said child for their experimentation..." He'd almost instantly dropped his hand, recoiling guiltily for rousing the subject. She smiled weak assurance and quietly captured his hand to return it to her face. "It's ok," she whispered delicately. She closed her eyes and began to relish in his warm touch once more. "They're just another shadow, and the shadows of the past define us. They're a part of me and my triumph over that chapter of my life." She opened her eyes just slightly and smiled back at him with sympathetic concern. "Right... Sparky?"

.  
Laxus stilled for a moment and just watched her get comfortable, her sentiment digging deep and surfacing another bout of tender consideration. He smiled back at her kindly. "Right..."

.  
She rolled her head to the side and smiled down to where she'd left him. For a moment, he just watched her squirm around in nothing but her shirt and panties; the most adorable little smile on her lips as she drew the bunched covers up invitingly. "I think I'm starting to appreciate… you know."

.  
He tipped his gaze back at her slyly. "That's cute," he admitted sardonically. "It embarrasses you to talk about my body. I knew you saw somethin' you liked."

.  
Neirah bit back a bashful grin and patted the bedside alongside her. " _Actually_ ," she started spiritedly. "I'm particularly fond of the amount of heat you produce."

.  
He flinched, his cheeks colouring a bit in embarrassment to think that he was guilty of running so hot in her naive company.

.  
"Not bad for a lightning wizard."

.  
He stared down into the sheets, utterly mortified. "I didn't… mean…"

.  
He flinched when Neirah shifted in bed and took a hold of the corner of his open shirt, tugging it towards the headboard. "You've been promoted, Sparky," she crooned. She giggled whimsically as she lay back among her sheets and encouraged him to do the same. "From babysitter to space heater."

.  
He looked down to where she proceeded to smile and curl up into a little ball alongside him. For a moment, he just watched her rest peacefully, but when she opened her eyes, he knew he'd lingered too long.

.  
"I said warm me, darn it."

.  
He groaned unexpectedly, his breath hitching in his chest as he was dragged down onto the bed by his necklace. He blinked back at her serene expression as it returned, still as he watched her retract her claws.

.  
She plopped her forehead against his chest and let her hands slither up and around his waist. "It's going to be hard going back to the guild after this," she admitted sleepily. "Knowing that the mighty Laxus Dreyar is the best snuggler there. You even beat out my brother, who knew."

.  
He stared blankly forward, his cheeks flushed in utter humiliation.

.  
"I bet nobody would believe me."

.  
There was a look of bashful concern in his eyes as he tipped his gaze down to where she nuzzled his skin with her frigid little nose. "You're probably right so how 'bout we just keep whatever this is to ourselves?"

.  
"You're secret's safe with me, Sparky…" She purred affectionately, the pressure of her grip on him tightening. She smiled wickedly, a gentle squeak of a laugh escaping her as she tried to muffle it in the bunched blankets stuffed between them. "My brother might not bug you so much if he knew you were such a gentle giant."

.  
Laxus rolled his eyes, regretting ever returning to her side after he'd left. "Just… great…" He tipped his gaze over the top of her head to where her candle still flickered on the window ledge. The room was still and silent as he watched the snow gently fall outside. The storm really had gotten worse and he could almost feel the sting of its chill on his skin as he watched the little light dance. He was grateful he didn't have to go outside in such terrible conditions. He tipped his heavy-lidded gaze down to where he'd held the sleepy infinite slayer in his arms. "You sure… you want me to stay?"

.  
"Shh," she whispered whimsically. "Sleep…"

.  
He felt his heart skip a beat when she nuzzled her way up into his shoulder, scooting close enough that blankets no longer separated their flesh. He grunted softly, trying to keep his left arm still as he slid his right arm out of his shirt sleeve.

.  
"Stop moving," Neirah fussed softly in demand. "You wanna go out that window?"

.  
'You wanna see a grown man beg in the snow to be let inside like a damn stray?' It sounded better in his head, so he'd let it remain there. His brow furrowed over one sealed eye as she sank her little nails into his chest in warning. "Well just… if you wanna fall asleep like this…"

.  
"Oh, right!" Neirah announced in enlightenment. "You'll want me to share some of the blankets I'm hogging."

.  
'Another swing and a miss,' he thought humbly to himself. But as she shifted off his chest to retrieve some of the comforter balled up at her back, he'd leapt at the opportunity to remove his shirt completely. She was moving slowly, her actions clumsy since she'd refused to open her eyes in order to complete the task at hand. He smiled warmly to himself and laid his hand over hers as it tugged in a futile effort for the third round of she versus her blankets. He laid his lips on the top of her head with her gentle chirp of defiance. "You're still lying on 'em," he informed her playfully. "Scootch a little closer."

.  
Neirah shuddered with shortened breath, her eyes finally opening to observe the motion of her shrinking away from the wall she faced beneath the force of his strong embrace. She looked down at the hand wrapped around her waist, taking a long moment to enjoy the feeling of his heat against her back. She let him tuck the covers up around her, delighting in the gentle kisses he placed on her neck from behind. "Laxus?" She fussed softly for attention.

.  
"Mn?"

.  
She squirmed a bit, arching away from where her exposed lower back was being chaffed uncomfortably by a zipper. "It can't be… real comfortable to wear those to bed… can it?"

.  
He gently brushed away the tousled auburn strands along the side of her neck before his kisses returned to her rosy flesh. "Don't worry, I already got rid of my shirt. Didn't want the buttons to bug you or anythin'."

.  
She rolled her head to the side, watching the dim flicker of candlelight on the windowsill for a while before continuing. "I kind of meant… your-"

.  
She flinched in the same moment he did, his kisses retreating from their post as he fled backwards in astonishment. "Well fuck me. You're tryin' to get me out of my pants." A wickedly sinister grin curled his lips as she started to clamour defensively against him, to which he responded by holding her closer and burying his face in the crook of her neck. "Vixen," he purred affectionately against the squeamish woman.

.  
In the next moment, she stopped squirming and laid her hand against the one he had used to capture her waist. "It's ok… I don't mind," she started softly. Her honesty caused a more serious expression to cross his features. "If you want… I have some of my brother's sleeping shorts here… you could… borrow a pair of them if you wanted."

.  
He was thankful that she couldn't see his utterly baffled expression behind her. "Your brother sleeps here often?"

.  
She muffled her nervous giggle out of his line of sight. "Whenever I let him," she teased. "And unlike him, I clean his laundry so… it wouldn't be totally weird if you…"

.  
With a soft smile, he nuzzled her hair away from her nape and spoke against her sensitive skin. "If my pants are gonna be a problem, I don't mind taking em' off," he assured her eagerly.

.  
On the other side of the bed, Neirah's face was glowing red as her wide and trembling gaze stared over her face full of comforter out the window. "I promise I won't look." She sealed her eyes tight, feeling like an idiot for forgetting to remove the blanket before speaking. 'Good one Shads, make it even _more_ awkward.' She buried her head entirely with her humiliated thoughts.

.  
Her heart raced as she felt him shift from off the bed, his substantial presence noticeable when it was missing. She could hear the rattling of his belt clanging about with its slow release, and the pop of a button releasing from its catch moments before a zipper preceded silence. She slowly lowered her blankets from her head moments before she'd felt him tugging on the other end of them. She closed her eyes, her heart aching with how quickly it raced in her chest.

.  
Just like before, he'd slipped his arm around her, adjusting it to sit just beneath her breasts. She rose slightly with her curiosity only to have him weave his other arm beneath the pillow she'd rested her head against. Her breathing rattled upon expulsion as he gently slipped her pyjama shirt over her shoulder to place a tender kiss on her skin. "Better, princess?"

.  
She smiled bashfully to herself and backed up tight to his broad chest. "You know… you actually listen pretty well." She teased him playfully as she lazily intertwined their fingers beneath her breasts.

.  
"A pretty little thing like you tells a boy to take off his clothes, he's gotta be some kind of brain dead not to listen."

.  
She didn't realise she was doing it at first, and he wasn't going to bring it up. She clutched her hand tight to the centre of her chest, their hands folded comfortably between her soft caramel breasts. "So you do think I'm pretty."

.  
"I think Sorcerer Weekly picked a pretty sexy centrefold last week," he muttered friskily against her nape. "Looks good on my wall…"

.  
Neirah made some gentle fidgeting noises as she squirmed before she realised there really wasn't a way to get any closer to him. "Sleep, prince," she whispered weakly.

.  
He'd considered her command for a moment before brushing the tip of his nose along the ridge of her ear. With welling confidence, he pushed just a little further. "What if I'm not tired…?" His instigation was humble but needy as he tried to keep his itching hand from indulging past the permissions of his host's encouraging embrace.

.  
"I am," she admitted shyly. With a weighty sigh, she was settling into the most peaceful of comforts against him. "I had a pretty rough day."

.  
His expression dropped as the weight of guilt crashed into him. "Right, I forgot about that," he uttered gently. "Well then, I guess I can stay up and keep guard while you rest." He didn't know why he'd made it sound like he'd gone from the babysitter, to a space heater, to guard dog, when he knew full well her magic had returned to her sometime during the night. He could see it in the unusual shift in her eye colour.

.  
"Thank you," she whispered lightly through her exhaustion with a gentle yawn. He was moments from smiling and placing another affectionate kiss on her shoulder when she spoke again. "This is why I love you."

.  
Laxus caught his breath no more than a whisper away from her flesh, his wide and trembling gaze staring into the back of her head in astonishment. 'Neirah…' He waited for a long moment for her to clamour over the meaning of her last sentiment, denying the brutally honest truth that she'd hinted towards.

.  
But she didn't.

.  
She continued to clutch his hand between her breasts, and as a result, he could feel every breath slowing until sleep had laboured each one. He raised his head and glanced briefly over her shoulder to where her peaceful expression slumbered with a sleepy smile on her lips. They may have fought often when they were out and about the guild during the day, but that night, she'd been so warm and kind. He was slowly starting to realise that, when no one was looking, she was his.

.

* * *

.  
" _I don't know what has sparked between you and Neirah as of late, but it must end now."_

.

* * *

.  
'Why…?' He silently curled his fingers through the soft waves of cascading auburn against Neirah's satin crimson pillowcase. 'What are you afraid of, old man? Are you really… that blind?' He was desperate to kiss the sleepy smile on her lips, but he knew accommodating such an indulgence would definitely disturb her from where he'd been positioned.

 _._

* * *

 _.  
Laxus tipped his casually mellowed gaze Mira's way with the sense of tension growing between them. "Look, sweetheart, if you're gonna hit me, you might wanna do it before you have a complete meltdown," he challenged._

" _It's taking all I have not to!" she warned him feverishly. "Laxus, Neirah didn't grow up like the rest of us! You of all people should know that!" She threw her hand out to one side in accusation, her rage boiling over in her glassy cerulean gaze. "She doesn't understand some of the emotions that we take for granted!"_

.

* * *

.  
He tipped his solemn gaze towards the candle in the window once more. He was sure that they had been together far longer than the life of that candle should have lasted, but to look at it, one wouldn't have thought any time had passed at all. He'd thought it odd as he rested his head comfortably on the pillow alongside her. He'd thought time was supposed to fly when you were having a good time. He coddled Neirah's soft figure tight to his body, his mind far too active for him to even consider sleep as an option. 'She doesn't need to know… what love is…' He gently laid his lips against the top of her head and closed his eyes.

'To make a guy fall in love with her.'


	7. Epilogue: To Be With You

**Epilogue**

 **To Be With You**

* * *

 **.  
.**

He had said that he wasn't tired the night before, but he was certainly regaining consciousness that morning, which must have meant he had fallen asleep. He groaned softly and opened his eyes, taking in the unfamiliar scents and sights of her bedroom all over again. For a moment during the process of his senses awakening, he was lost and a little confused as to where he'd found himself. He'd woken up in some questionable situations after some pretty wild nights, but he was lying in the last place he'd ever expect to be.  
.

Well, something had certainly been sleeping; his left arm under a slumbering dragon slayer. He hated to disturb her when it looked like she hadn't moved all night, but daylight reflected brightly off the fresh snowfall on the ground and into the room. With it would come suspicion and most certainly company.  
.

He was careful with his movements as he laid the purring creature delicately to one side in order to free up his arm for escape. To his relief though, she didn't make a single advance towards waking. He slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his neck with a lazy smile. She really hadn't moved. She still coddled her hand to her chest where he had been cradled most of the night and she still had her sleepy smile painted across her lips.  
.

He grunted softly with his absorption of the light in the room, his head pounding. "Man, it feels like I've been out for days," he rumbled grimly. He picked his shirt up off the floor with his free hand while the other continued to massage his aching nape. "Make that a-"

.  
He froze in the middle of putting one arm through the sleeve of his shirt when his tired gaze came to rest on the windowsill. 'It can't…' His wild gaze trembled in utter disbelief. 'But that's… impossible?!'

.  
In the still morning light against the windowsill flickered the candle he had assumed she had lit the night before. Its progression had barely changed since the first moment he'd seen it upon returning to her room with her tea. He'd almost fell to the floor as he hurriedly raked his pants back on while simultaneously approaching the mysterious flame, his breathing laboured with bewilderment.

.  
He carefully examined the wax as it slowly beaded off the stick like any other normal candle would. There was nothing special about it, it had no magical essence. 'There's no… no way,' he mused with alarm. 'I would have felt it if she had of got up in the middle of the night to light another one.' He slowly reached out to the flame, quickly retracting his hand with a grunt of pain as the fire bit into his palm with a simmering hiss. It was most definitely a real candle. 'There's just… It couldn't have lasted…' He looked down at his palm as he rubbed his thumb over the burn. 'It's like time just froze-'

.  
The thundering beat of his heart seized and all the warmth that had found him the night prior left in one gushing wave of realisation. With mechanical movements, his shuddering slowly turned his pale expression to peek over his shoulder towards the bed he'd just woken from. For a long moment, he just stared in horror at the dainty girl curled up in the tousled sheets in a beautiful little mess.

.

* * *

.  
" _Laxus, if this turns into a war, I need you on our side."  
._

* * *

.  
He forced a painfully dry swallow down his throat as he took his first slow step back towards her bedside. 'She couldn't have…' He denied reality internally, his stomach in knots over his assumptions. 'Her eyes… she had nothin' left when she got back.' He sat down on her bedside and smoothed his palm over her head, lightly stroking her hair back out of her face. 'I... saw it…'

.  
His expression softened sadly as he watched her peaceful face mewl and subconsciously press into his fingertips. 'She's a dragon slayer… she can't… She can't just… stop… time.' He peeked into his peripherals at the candle still burning at his back. 'Can she…?'

.  
He raked his hand swiftly away from her with a defiant scoff. 'Tsk, damn geezer, gettin' into my head like that.' His thoughts grew bitter as he climbed to his feet. 'She can barely use her own magic much less pick up a trick like time manipulation.' He'd finished gathering his things before returning to her side. 'Even if she was capable of stopping time for the entire night… I would have noticed somethin' for that kind of power.'

.  
He watched her slumber for a little while longer before a sad smile found his features. "End-Bringer." He whispered his tender amusement with an incredulous snort. "I'll believe _that_ when I see it." He teased her roots and quietly dipped down to kiss her forehead.

.  
He felt silly rushing out on her when all he wanted to do was stay, but common sense told him that he might want to move out before her big brother finally dug his way through the snowdrifts to get back to her. In a way, he wished it had of still been snowing so that it would cover up his tracks from her house. He chuckled weakly to himself as he put his hand on her bedroom door frame. He'd find a way.

.  
His smile faded as he slowly turned and looked back across the room to the candle's tiny spark still dancing in her window and he tried to tell himself that it wasn't fear driving him away. There was a lot that he didn't know about her, even more that she didn't know about herself. But like every snowflake that fell the night before, he could think of a million reasons he shouldn't…

but as the light of that little flame flickered in his cool steel gaze  
.

he'd realised he really only needed one reason to love her.  
.

* * *

.

Neirah mewled lightly and writhed comfortably beneath her covers. She gave a hearty stretch before realising that she didn't meet the resistance she'd expected. "Hm?" She cooed curiously, slowly batting her eyes open. "Laxus?" She sighed softly when she reached back and found he was already gone, a playful smile on her lips. 'Jerk. He could have said goodbye…'  
.

She chirped gently and rolled her gaze to her windowsill, her smile broadening with the colouring of her cheeks as she saw a candle burning in her window. 'He must have lit another one this morning to help keep the room warm after he'd left.' She squealed quietly and clutched the comforter to her lips as she squirmed around in little to nothing beneath the sheets. "Laxus…" She repeated her words affectionately, rolling over with intentions on coddling the pillow he'd slept against.

.  
Unfortunately, like a big iron roadblock, she came nose to scrunched-up-nose with her infuriated big brother and by the look of fury and exhaustion in his eyes, he was _not_ there to cuddle.

.  
"Wha'd'you just say?" He growled huskily, glaring back at his kid sister through his aggravated expression. "Better not've been what I think you said!"  
.

Neirah scrunched her face up right back before chomping on the iron dragon's obtrusive nose and rolling over, snatching her other pillow from beneath him before retreating.

.  
"Damn it, Shadow!" he snarled. "You wanna tell me what yer doin' dreamin' about that creep?! Oi! And while yer at it, why don't ya fill me in on another lil' thing like- WHY THE HELL DOES YOUR PILLOW STINK OF 'IM?!"

.  
'Well.' She thought humbly to herself, her unimpressed expression buried in her pillow. 'At least this has got him distracted from my solo flight last night.'  
.

"And that's another thing! I saw tracks comin' to yer place and they just stopped a couple feet before the damn door! He was here wasn't 'e!? What the hell!? Do you have any idea how long I looked for yer scrawny hide last night?! And to find out yer chummin' with that creep-!"

.  
Her stony expression softened as she nuzzled her pillow affectionately and stared into the candlelight with her one revealed eye.

.  
"Oi! Shadow are you even listenin' to me-?!" Gajeel was cut short when a brutally impatient iron fist was driven up into his jaw, sending him onto the floor beside the bed.

.  
"If you're not going to sleep then get **OUT** of my bed!" She shook her fist mortal once more as she glowered down at him. She threw the covers up and dropped to the bed, waiting for them to float delicately onto her exhausted figure. "I'm going back to sleep, bug me again before tea time, Screwball, and I'll set you on _fire_."

.  
Gajeel ground his teeth, his jaw aching against her floorboards. "Why you-" His upper lip quirked to one side with his curious grunt. "Hm? Are those my shorts?"


End file.
